Party Animal
by MultiplePersonas
Summary: When Ladybug inadvertently causes a girl to lose her Sweet Sixteen concert trip, Hawk Moth gets a new akuma in the form of Party Animal - and she's about to plan the biggest party that Paris has ever seen, no matter who gets in her way!


(Welcome to my first Ladybug fic! Hopefully there will be more where this came from! As it is, I just have to say I couldn't do it without my friend PA2. This was a collaboration between us, and he's just as much the author here as I am. I'm really lucky to have him as a friend. Anyway, enjoy!)

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 **Party Animal:**

 **A Miraculous Ladybug Fic**

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"Behind you!"

Ladybug did a backflip just in time to avoid Mr. Mister's spray. She had to be careful. That stuff had already dissolved huge holes in cars and brick walls. Instead, the spray settled into the street, creating a massive pothole and causing a bus to skid to a stop. Why did they have to fight this villain in the middle of a four-way intersection? Cat Noir covered her, swooping in to strike the villain with his bo staff. He was well-camouflaged at night in his black catsuit. In her red number with black spots, Ladybug was an easy target.

Once again, Ladybug ducked aside to avoid the spray. For an old man, Mr. Mister was tough. With a big tank of acidic spray on his back and dual wands to dispense it, it was almost impossible to get close to him. Even Ladybug's trusty yo-yo wasn't much help on offense - if it was hit, its string would dissolve and leave the whole thing useless. Instead, she began twirling it in front of her, creating a fan to blow the mist away. She wouldn't last much longer if she didn't go on the offensive, though. Cat Noir might be able to Cataclysm that tank, though, if he could just get close…

 _Better make this count!_ the superheroine thought, tossing her yo-yo high into the air. "Lucky Charm!"

In a flash of light, an object with a pattern just like her unitard materialized, then dropped into Ladybug's hands.

"A kite?" Ladybug said, puzzled. Her mind went into overdrive, taking in her surroundings. The streetlamp behind Mr. Mister could be useful. But how to get past him?

With a flash of inspiration, Ladybug leapt toward her foe. The old villain retaliated with a dual spray, but Ladybug fanned it aside with the body of the kite, then tucked and rolled past him. She sent out her yo-yo to seize the streetlamp, then hoisted herself up, trusting Cat Noir to hold the villain's attention for a minute. Working her nimble fingers, she wrapped the kite string around the post, then twirled back down, once again sweeping aside the mist with her improvised fan as she wrapped the string around the villain's legs. With one good tug, Mr. Mister was yanked off his feet. "Cat Noir, you know what to do!"

With a nod, Cat Noir somersaulted down by her side. A dark orb materialized over his outstretched claw. "Cataclysm!" he cried as the sphere was absorbed into his hand. He reached out and struck Mr. Mister's tank, and cracks began to spread from the point of contact. In a second, the tank burst, and the liquid within poured out onto the road, burning a hole straight through to the sewer system.

Without missing a beat, Ladybug seized Mr. Mister's first-place ribbon and tore it in half. A small black butterfly flew out, and Ladybug sent out her yo-yo, which opened like a beetle shell and caught the insect within. "No more evildoing for you, little akuma," she said, pulling the yo-yo back and doing a classic around-the-world trick. "Time to de-evilize!"

Bringing the weapon back to her hand, Ladybug opened it back up and let the butterfly, now dazzling white, out of its prison. "Bye-bye, little butterfly," she said as it took to the air. With her other hand, she threw the kite into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

There was a flash of light, and the kite burst into millions of tiny ladybugs that flew off in every direction, circling Mr. Mister and everything his spray had hit, fixing them all. The villain returned to kindly old Mr. Tournesol from the community garden, his black overalls returning to their normal blue. He grabbed his ribbon, which had been repaired, and cast his eyes around him, dazed. With a frown, he got to his feet and walked away without a word.

His job done, Cat Noir moved over to stand at Ladybug's side. "Pound it!" he said, and he and Ladybug bumped fists.

"So, Ladybug," he flirted, the two staring into each other's domino masks. "Now that the trouble is over, can I interest you in a nighttime stroll?"

Ladybug smiled back. "Sure," she replied.

Cat Noir was taken aback. "Really?" he said, smiling wide.

"Yep. I'll go north, you go south."

With that, the superheroine launched her yo-yo at a nearby flagpole and, using it as a bungee, propelled herself onto a nearby rooftop, then leapt onto another and out of sight. Sighing, Cat Noir used his bo staff to pole vault onto a different roof, and made his exit in the opposite direction.

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Back in his lair, Hawk Moth stared out the massive, circular window onto the city below, white butterflies flapping all around him. He was a tall, gaunt man in a purple suit and a silver mask, a cane grasped in one hand. He may not have looked particularly flashy, but there was an aura of menace surrounding him.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir," he growled, "you pests may have avoided extermination this time, but soon I'll harvest your Miraculouses!"

The villain turned to leave as the steel shielding on his window began to close, but suddenly, a tingle ran down his spine, and the shield stopped.

"What's this?" Hawk Moth said, puzzled but curious. "I sense tension brewing. Perhaps this night won't be a complete loss, after all…"

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 **Several minutes earlier…**

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Nicolle Sauvage found herself jerked forward as her bus came to a screeching halt. The girl in the next seat tumbled into her, sending Nicolle's bag crashing to the floor.

"Sorry!" the girl apologized, grabbing the bag and handing it back to her. Nicolle nodded. The girl seemed nice. She was about fourteen, with brown skin, copper hair, and a sly look in her hazel eyes, magnified by her horn-rimmed glasses. "Ooh, nice bangle," she complimented, noticing the tortoiseshell accessory on Nicolle's wrist.

Nicolle smiled. She took a lot of pride in her appearance, particularly her clothing and accessories. From her black platform shoes, chosen to accentuate her height, to her designer leopard-print top and skirt, which showed off her thin figure and matched her dark skin tone, to her dark hair, which hung back in a beautiful fishtail braid, she felt that she looked the picture of "elegant". Not bad for an almost-sixteen year old girl. "Thanks," she said. "It was a birthday present last year."

Just thinking about it made her smile widen. Nicolle loved parties. She always had, although it was only recently that she had matured enough to really appreciate them. If she had her way, she'd be spending every night at the club with her friends, dancing and talking and just doing whatever she felt like. In fact, that was where she was coming from now, a night at the hot new club she had just heard about. Frankly, she would have stayed even longer if not for her parents' strict curfew.

Nicolle was drawn out of her reverie when she noticed that the girl next to her had bolted out of her seat and up to the front of the bus, pulling out her phone to record everything. Nicolle didn't bother following her. Ladybug and Cat Noir were fighting another villain, obviously. "Sending the footage to the news?" she called.

The younger girl snorted. "As if!" she said. "This is prime material for my Ladyblog!"

Nicolle snorted. Another Ladybug blog. It seemed like half the city was obsessed with those heroes. Sure, they were cool and kept villains at bay, but now Paris seemed to have nothing else to talk about. Still, she looked outside. Ladybug and Cat Noir were fighting some old man with a tank on his back, dodging whatever it was he was spraying.

 _Great,_ Nicolle thought. _Now I'm going to be late._ She took out her phone and checked the time. Really _late!_

"Perfect!" she complained out loud. "Now I'm going to miss curfew!"

"Well, you should've accounted for delays," the younger girl replied, without looking back.

Nicolle scowled. "Look, whatever your name is-"

"It's Alya."

"Look, I'd be almost home by now if it weren't for those two. And anyway, you're younger than me! How come you're out so late?"

Alya shrugged. "Good behavior, good grades, permissive parents. Take your pick. Ooh, she just used the Lucky Charm!"

Nicole just rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. Can she just hurry up and de-villainize this guy so I can get home on time?"

"It's 'de-evilize'," Alya responded, her eyes on the action. Nicole just groaned and buried her head in her hands. Late for her curfew and stuck with an insane Ladybug fan. This was just not her night.

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 **Now…**

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Ladybug dropped down onto the rooftop balcony of the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. The spots on her Miraculous earrings had been disappearing, one every minute, and she hit the balcony just in time to turn back into her civilian self, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a lovely dark-haired and bright-eyed half-Chinese girl of fourteen. With a contented sigh, she flipped open the glass trapdoor and descended the ladder to her attic bedroom.

"Marinette, dear?" her mother called from downstairs.

"Yes?"

"Oh, good, you _are_ home. I didn't see you come in. How was Rose's?"

"Uh, great!" Marinette lied, glad her mother couldn't see her blushing. "She says 'hi'!"

"That's nice. Are you still hungry? I saved some dinner for you."

"Thanks, mom! I'll be down in a few minutes."

With a sigh, Marinette took a seat at her desk, taking a moment to admire her many pictures of a handsome blonde boy with sparkling green eyes and a bright smile. Most of them were clipped from magazines, shots of him modeling various outfits, but a couple were just school photos.

"So, are we going to talk about the fight?" came a squeaky female voice from Marinette's jacket. She opened it up, and a tiny red creature, like a cross between a ladybug and a fairy, zoomed out. She hovered in midair, her massive blue eyes meeting Marinette's.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "What about it, Tikki?"

Tikki sighed. "There are better places to fight than a four-way intersection, Marinette. The akuma's target wasn't there; you could have easily led him somewhere with fewer people. You're lucky that nobody was seriously hurt."

"Hey," Marinette objected. "I would've kept people safe if there'd been any risk of that!"

Tikki smiled. "I know, Marinette, and this isn't a condemnation," she replied patiently. "But the best way to keep people safe is to keep them away from the danger in the first place. You're a hero, Marinette, and you need to keep in mind that a hero's duty, above all else, is to protect innocents."

"I know, Tikki. But I still say tonight was a success. Nobody got hurt, all the damage was fixed. What's the worst that could happen?"

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After the Miraculous Ladybug fixed the street, it was another twenty minutes before Nicolle made it home, and she already knew what was coming. Her parents were waiting for her just inside the door, matching scowls on their faces. That was the only thing about them that matched, really. Her father was a tall, skinny, and imposing Caucasian man, still dressed in his suit from work, his hair cut short and big round glasses framing his dark eyes. Her mother, on the other hand, was a slightly overweight Punjabi woman in an indigo blouse and skirt, her hair in a tight bun.

"Nice of you to finally show up," said Mr. Sauvage.

"Look, before you read me the riot act, I was going to be home on time, but then I got caught up in a Ladybug fight. It's her fault that I'm late, not mine," Nicolle said, breathing heavily from her rush back home.

"We figured when we saw the news," said Mrs. Sauvage, shaking her head. "But quite frankly, young lady, you would have been cutting it close anyway. You're obeying the letter of a curfew, but not the spirit."

"But Mom!" Nicolle began, only for her father to cut her off.

"Nicolle, please. This isn't the first time you've missed curfew, and Ladybug had nothing to do with the others. And we're not even going into what we've heard from your teachers about your grades and your attitude. Quite frankly, your mother and I were discussing making your curfew earlier before all this happened. But I think you need a stronger punishment."

"What? What do you mean 'a stronger punishment'?" Nicolle said, incredulous.

"I'm sorry, Nicolle," her mother said, "but we have decided to cancel your birthday concert trip. Tomorrow, you're going to tell your friends you can't go and give them the tickets. You'll be spending your birthday here, with us."

Nicolle was speechless. This could _not_ be happening. "Are you serious? I can't miss this concert! It's my sweet sixteen present! I've been waiting for months to get to see Jagged Stone! He's the hottest thing in Paris right now! You can't stop me from going because some superheroes had to make me late!"

"We know how much you've been looking forward to this," her mother said, a sympathetic look on her face. "But our minds are made up. I'm sorry, but hopefully you'll learn a lesson from this. Now go upstairs. I daresay you've stayed up late enough already."

"But-"

"Not another word, Nicolle!" her father snapped. "Go upstairs, now!"

Furious, Nicolle stormed away from her parents and up to her bedroom.

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"Yes," Hawk Moth said with a grin. "One's special day truly _should_ be a _special_ day. And a sweet sixteen, no less. Even better, she bears a hatred for Ladybug and Cat Noir. Truly this is a perfect opportunity!"

The villain extended his hand, and one of the hundreds of white butterflies in his hideout flew into it. He laughed and closed his hand around it, concentrating dark energy. When he opened his hand again, the butterfly had turned black.

"Fly away, my little akuma, and give this party fiend a real reason to celebrate!"

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Nicolle stomped all the way up to her bedroom and flopped down onto her bed, burying her face in a pillow. Her parents just didn't get it. They thought that just because she would rather party than study that she was turning into someone completely different. A girl's allowed to change, isn't she? So what if she went from a _trés bien_ student to an _assez bien_? Who cares if she preferred to go clubbing with her friends than take chess lessons? She wasn't hurting anybody, but her parents just couldn't see it.

Her fingers tightened around the pillow. It's all that Ladybug's fault! If she hadn't had that fight, she wouldn't have been late, and would still be going to see Jagged Stone! Now she'd be stuck home on her birthday, while her friends lived it up without her. It wasn't fair!

She was so wrapped up in her frustrations that she didn't even notice when the black butterfly flew in through a crack in her window, landing on her tortoiseshell bangle. Silently, it dissolved into energy that was absorbed into the accessory. As she lifted her face away from the pillow, a butterfly-shaped flash of energy appeared around her eyes, and a voice spoke in her mind.

" _Party Animal, I am Hawk Moth, and I have an early birthday present for you. I will grant you the power to rid people of their inhibitions and bend them to your will. All I ask in return is that you deliver to me the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Cat Noir."_

"With pleasure," Nicolle replied, a sinister smile spreading across her face. As she spoke, dark energy radiated from her bangle, spreading over and obscuring her entire body, leaving her still grinning face for last.

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"Are you sure we did the right thing, Anvi?" Mr. Sauvage asked, a cup of tea in his hands. After sending Nicolle up to her room, the two had retreated to the kitchen.

Mrs. Sauvage sighed. "I'm not quite sure, Leo, but we had to do something. Our little girl is growing up fast, but she's not there yet. If this keeps up, she might end up doing something she'll regret. With any luck, having her concert taken away from her will set her on the right-"

Suddenly, the two jumped as they heard a noise from upstairs. "What was that?!" Mr. Sauvage yelled, his eyes wide.

"I don't know!" Mrs. Sauvage responded, before rushing to the stairs. "Nicolle!" she screamed, but got no response.

The two ran up the stairs until they reached Nicolle's room, with Mr. Sauvage throwing open the door. When they looked into the room, they gasped.

The figure standing there both did and did not look like their daughter. While her face and body were mostly the same, everything else was different. Her leopard-print clothes had become a matching fur bodysuit, distinguished only from genuine fur by the decorative frills and openings on the wrists, heels, and neck. She wore slick black fingerless gloves and low heeled shoes that looked dangerously pointed. Razor-sharp claws erupted from her fingers. A long, prehensile tail trailed out behind her, partly covered by her wild mane of hair. Her lips were painted an alluring red, and the rest of her face was equally made up. She wore a jagged mask in a riot of colors over her eyes, which were now amber-colored and vertically pupiled, giving her a savage look. And around both of her wrists were strings holding long glowsticks, the one on her right situated just below her tortoiseshell bangle.

"...Nicolle? Is that you?" Mrs. Sauvage asked, more out of horror than ignorance. She knew exactly what had happened to her daughter. And it was the number one fear of any citizen of Paris.

"'Nicolle'? Sounds like someone in dire need of some fun," the creature said, smirking all the while. "The name's Party Animal, and I'm here to make Paris go wild. And I think I'll start with...you."

Before they could run, Party Animal began to twirl her twin glowsticks in front of their faces, each stick erupting in a bright light that constantly changed color. The Sauvages became transfixed, their horrified expressions relaxing into stupid grins. Satisfied, Party Animal reached over to her radio and turned it on. Electronica poured out, filling the room with a wave of sound.

As the music washed over the Sauvages, their dazed expressions shifted into wild ones. They immediately started to dance, as carefree and uncontrolled as any hardcore partier. Satisfied, Party Animal pushed them out the door and sat down in front of her computer.

"Now," she mused, "what was that Alya girl's blog called again? Oh, right! 'Ladyblog'. That's...clever." She gave a snort of disgust as she booted up her device.

" _Party Animal,"_ Hawk Moth's voice echoed in her head, _"what are you doing? You should be out spreading your passion to the rest of the city!"_

"Relax, Hawk Moth," she replied dismissively. "I don't plan to stick around here much longer. I just want to make sure I know everything I can about my target. After all," she said, a devious grin lighting up her face as she saw the costumed hero's image on her computer screen, "the most important part of any party...is _planning_."

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 **The Next Morning…**

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"Bye, mom! Bye dad!" Marinette called as she ran out the bakery's front door. "See you later!"

"Bye, Marinette!" they called back.

Today was the day. She'd gotten the call a week ago, and he was finally meeting her! Marinette raced across the street to her school, College Francoise Dupont, a grand old brick building. She burst inside and ran to the office, where he promised he'd be waiting. Other kids had gathered outside the door. They must've heard secondhand. It was true, though! He was there!

"'Ello, Marinette," greeted world-renowned rock star Jagged Stone in a Cockney accent as she walked in the door. He was tall and thin, with a well-trimmed goatee and purple-frosted hair, wearing a black leather jacket and yellow-striped pants, and flanked by bodyguards on both sides. And he was just talking to her like a normal person! "You're right on time. And so am I. I should work on that, really - it's not like a rock star to do that...anyway, as thanks for designing my new album cover, I have something for you." He dug into his pocket, and brought out four strips of paper. "Four backstage passes to tomorrow's concert for you and your friends!"

Marinette practically squealed as she took the tickets from Jagged Stone's hands. "Thank you Mr. Stone! I'm sure Adrien and I - I mean, my friends and Adrien - I mean, my friends and I will be so, so…" she stammered, then suddenly swept him into a massive hug.

"Whoa, love!" Jagged Stone chuckled, waving off his bodyguards as they stepped towards the two of them. "It's just a 'thank you' for my favorite designer."

"Marinette," said the principal, Mr. Damocles, in an even tone. "Please let go of the rock star."

"Right, right!" Marinette said, releasing her hold. "Sorry, Mr. Stone, sir."

Jagged Stone just laughed. "That's alright, love. But save that energy for tomorrow night at the Bataclan. You'll need it! Oh," he added with a wink. "And good luck with whoever you ask."

Mr. Damocles nodded. "Yes, well, this all very nice, but Marinette still has classes to attend, so I suggest we cut this meeting short. Thank you for visiting my establishment, Mr. Stone."

"You're welcome," replied the rock star. "See you tomorrow night, Marinette!"

Marinette could still barely speak as she left the office, where she was mobbed by fellow students, all chattering excitedly.

"Um, excuse me, pardon me please!" Marinette said as she tried to work her way through the crowd. It was difficult, but she eventually made it past them and started rushing to her classroom.

"Oh man," she muttered, "if these are just random people who saw Jagged Stone, how am I going to be able to handle my own classmates?"

"Don't worry, Marinette!" Tikki piped up from inside Marinette's bag. "You'll do just fine! Just be confident, and don't be afraid to say no!"

"Easy for you to say. You're not going to be the one having to deal with Rose's puppy-dog eyes, or Max's statistics talk, or whatever else they throw at me," Marinette said as she reached the classroom door. "Still, it might be fun to see what Chloé tries."

Taking a deep breath, Marinette opened the door and walked inside to see...her classmates sitting calmly at their tables and talking to each other. Miss Bustier had yet to arrive.

Figuring they hadn't heard, Marinette moved as stealthily, or "stiffly" rather, as she could toward her seat. It actually made her look more like a robot, but nobody seemed to pay much attention until she found her seat.

"Hey, girl," Alya greeted. "Nice entrance."

"Hey," Marinette replied. "What's with everyone? They're so calm. Haven't they heard?"

"Of course we've heard," Mylene spoke up to her from across the aisle. "But Alya convinced us not to bug you about it."

"She made some excellent points," Kim, who sat behind her, added, shrugging his shoulders.

Behind Alya, Ivan didn't say anything. He just rolled his eyes.

"Although if you _wanted_ to take one of us…" Rose said, flashing her huge, sparkling eyes.

"We wouldn't mind," Juleka finished with a sly grin.

Marinette began to perspire. "Well," she told them. "I've sort of got them earmarked…"

"Then don't worry about it," Alix laughed. "You really should give us more credit, Marinette. We've learned a lot about letting go of disappointment after _every one of us_ was akumatized!"

"Except _you_ , now that I think about it," Alya said, pursing her lips and staring at Marinette.

Marinette laughed nervously. "Oh, just lucky, I guess. I mean, not lucky like Ladybug, but, uh, well...anyway, here's your ticket!" she stammered, fitting two of the passes into Alya's hand. "And one for, you know, whoever," she said, casting her eye on Nino, sitting right in front of Alya. Alya and Nino laughed, and Alya slipped a ticket right into his outstretched hand. He was pretty cute, even if he wasn't Marinette's type. He was a skinny, fun-loving boy with skin a little darker than Alya's, always dressed in fun t-shirts and baseball caps, and usually rocking out on his headphones.

"Thanks, Marinette!" he laughed. Marinette nodded. She knew he'd appreciate the ticket.

"How adorable," a snide voice said from the front of the class. Marinette immediately turned and glared at the girl who rivaled only Hawk Moth in Marinette's list of villains, Chloé Bourgeois. A bottle-blonde girl with blue eyes, too much makeup and bright-yellow clothing, Chloé was a constant nuisance in Marinette's life, always ready with a smart remark, a ridiculous scheme, or both. "Looks like the nerds are going to be having their own little pity party at the concert tomorrow."

"You're just jealous because you're going to be missing out," Marinette said under her breath. Unfortunately, Chloé still heard her.

"Ha! As if! My daddy managed to pull some strings and get me two backstage passes of my own!" Chloé said, triumphantly pulling the aforementioned slips of paper from her handbag. "I can't wait to be able to spend the entire time with my beloved Adrikins!"

"Wait, what?" asked Sabrina, her redheaded toadie. Marinette couldn't bring herself to hate that one - just pity her. "I thought you were taking _me!_ "

"Oh Sabrina," Chloé chided. "I never thought you could be so selfish. Are you really saying you want to get between me and my true love having a romantic evening together?" Sabrina immediately looked down, unable to respond to that. Marinette would have spoken up in her defense, but she suddenly noticed something, or rather someone, who was missing from the classroom.

"Where _is_ Adrien, anyway?" Alya asked, saving Marinette the trouble.

"Oh, off doing some modeling somewhere," Nino said with a shrug. "Said he couldn't reschedule, but he'll be in later today. He's always busy with something or other. I really have no idea just what he gets up to half the time."

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Adrien held his signature sly grin as the camera flashed again. His dad had him modeling a new line of jewelry at the Boucheron today. The work wasn't so bad (the Boucheron was a very nice mansion-turned-jewelers, and an upbeat rock song was being pumped in), and he sure had the look for it (tousled blonde hair, sparkling green eyes, and a bright smile that many found dazzling), but it was pretty annoying that he tended to be the only kid there, and he hated how bossy the photographers could be. If he was turned even one degree too far to the right, or holding his head just a few millimeters too low, she might snap.

Not that Adrien was actually _afraid_ of her, of course. His bodyguard/chauffer was standing by, a hulking, silent mound of muscle whom Adrien called the Gorilla, mainly because he'd never spoken to say his name. And Adrien was no stranger to combat himself, though nobody knew his skills went beyond just knowing how to fence. But still, best to just smile, nod and do what the photographers said, a strategy that hadn't failed him yet.

But just as the session seemed about to wrap up, the door opened and someone new walked in. Adrien doubted very much that she was an ordinary customer, partly because she was a teenager, but mostly because she was clearly akumatized. The girl was wearing a leopard-fur bodysuit and had noticeable animal qualities, like a prehensile tail, and claws. Even weirder were those glowsticks she was carrying.

As expected, all attention turned to the new girl. She pretended to ignore them, waltzing right up to one of the many glass counters displaying all the jewelry. With a chuckle, she looked up at the frightened clerk and said "Hello, there. I'll relieve you of anything black."

When the clerk didn't move, the villainized girl chuckled and raised the glowsticks, twirling them in the clerk's face. The clerk's expression went slack, and he began leaping around, seizing carbonados, onyxes, spinels, and black tourmalines from everywhere in the store. Whenever another employee intervened, the akumatized girl used her glowsticks to brainwash them, as well.

With everybody's attention on the girl, Adrien managed to slip into a bathroom unnoticed. "We've got trouble, Plagg."

A small creature flew out of his jacket, part black cat and part fairy, with a mischievous grin. He was holding a wedge of camembert in his little paws. "Don't tell me you have to do the shoot over again?" the kwami complained in a nasally voice.

"No, Plagg, actual trouble. Akuma trouble," Adrien said, a grim look on his face.

"Oh," Plagg said, taking a bite of his camembert.

"Is that really all you have to say?" Adrien asked, shaking his head.

"You're talking like this isn't something we deal with every day. Or like you're not looking forward to running into your _Lady_ again."

"Plagg! That's not the point!" Adrien shouted, a bright blush on his face as he took off the photo shoot rings and put on the only one he cared about, a plain old silver one. The photographer had barely been able to talk him into taking it off for the shoot, and Adrien was glad that he had been able to just place it in his pocket rather than give it to the Gorilla. That would have been a disaster. "Look, just put the cheese down, okay? The sooner we deal with this, the sooner you get to rest."

"Fine, fine, but you'd better have a nice big piece of camembert for me when we're done!" Plagg said, quickly jamming the rest of the wedge into his mouth.

"Duly noted," Adrien said, chuckling. "Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg flew into Adrien's ring and a black energy spread across the boy's body. His clothing transformed into a black catsuit. A black domino mask covered his eyes, and cat ears sprouted over his head. Black gloves with claws grew over his hands, and matching boots grew over his feet. A steel bo staff materialized in his hands, and the ring itself turned black with a green pawprint on the front. Finally, a belt flew out behind him like a tail, and a collar grew around his neck, complete with golden bell. Striking a heroic pose just for the heck of it, Cat Noir was ready for battle.

Grinning, Cat Noir kicked open the door and leapt out into the shop, then dashed over to the akumatized girl. By now she had already slipped on over twenty black gems in the form of rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and barrettes. The handful of people she hadn't hypnotized, save for the Gorilla, had fled during the robbery.

"My, my," Cat Noir said. "Somebody's got an eye for the finer things."

The akumatized girl chuckled. "Can you blame me?" she smirked, flicking his bell. "We clearly have similar tastes. Now why don't you be a good little kitty and help a girl out?"

She twirled her glowsticks, but Cat Noir closed his eyes tight and kicked her in the chest, sending her sprawling back. She regained control with a backflip, then flicked out the glowsticks, turning them into twin batons. "Fine, we'll settle this _your_ way."

The girl charged forward and swiped one of her glowing batons. Cat Noir grunted and blocked them with his bo staff, only for her to swing the other at his head. The young superhero ducked, one hand still on his staff as he seized the villain's wrist and threw her over the staff and onto the floor. She popped up just as quickly and tossed her batons into the air, then lunged and unsheathed her retractable claws, swiping at his chest. As he tumbled back, she caught her weapons and pounced on him, striking him with one baton, then the other and knocking him into a wall.

"You're not too bad at this," Cat Noir commended, pouncing back into action and sweeping her legs with his staff. "What's your handle? Lady Bling? Accessorizer?"

"What if I don't feel like talking?" the villain sneered as she skidded backwards, ricocheting off of a display counter and coming at him with both batons.

Cat Noir frantically ducked and weaved away from the assault, avoiding both claws and batons with feline grace. "Aw, not in the mood to share? You've got me _feline_ pretty bad here, lady."

"Curiosity killed the cat, after all!" the girl snapped, leaping over him and onto another counter.

Cat Noir smirked, twirling his staff. "Maybe, but I'm not the only one looking _paw_ -sitively catlike here, Leopard-Print."

At that, the villain let out a downright ferocious growl. "Don't even try to compare us. You're just a little housecat, but I'm a wild Party Animal! And I'm here to make sure all of Paris lets loose!"

Snarling, the newly named Party Animal and Cat Noir leapt at each other, swinging their weapons. Cat Noir swung high, and Party Animal low. Pain shot up Cat Noir's leg, and Party Animal made it worse by yanking at his belt and pulling him over. "I could try to hypnotize you from here," she suggested. "But you'd just knock the glowsticks away. Besides, I've done my research. It's not like making you my servant would actually stop my real target. It sure didn't work for Princess Fragrance or Dark Cupid. Best to just take you out now and steal your Miraculous."

"Are you sure? I happen to think I make a great backup dancer," Cat Noir said with a smile, but on the inside he was honestly a little scared. A villain actually learning from past mistakes? That was even more terrifying than the thought of being made to fight against Ladybug again. He braced himself for the blow from her baton, when suddenly a giant hand clamped over the back of his neck and flung him backwards.

As Cat Noir straightened in order to correct his landing, he gasped as he saw the Gorilla standing in front of Party Animal. Somehow, the bodyguard had managed to get in close enough to throw Cat Noir away from her before she could strike.

"Thanks, pal!" Cat Noir shouted as he pounced towards the villain. The Gorilla nodded, and Cat Noir came down to strike again, but Party Animal was ready for him. She dodged the blow, then kicked the Gorilla aside. Swiping her batons behind her back, she knocked Cat Noir away again.

"Hm…" Party Animal pondered aloud. "I _could_ use a bouncer…" Her batons shrunk back down into normal-sized glowsticks, and she began to twirl them in front of the Gorilla's face. Cat Noir moved forward to stop her, but she sensed him coming and kicked him from behind. The Gorilla's expression went...well, actually it was pretty much the same as always, but his eyes dimmed and he began to slouch. He even started moving his hips in an awkward sort of dance.

"Okay, big guy," she commanded. "Help me put out the cat." She looked around, then raised her voice. "The rest of you, too!" At that, the Gorilla and the rest of Party Animal's minions straightened up and proceeded to make their way toward Cat Noir.

Cat Noir gulped. Just dealing with Party Animal was one thing, but her _and_ a shop full of brainwashed minions? He'd have to fight smart. "Nice try," he announced, trying to sound more confident than he felt, "but I'm not giving up just because you've got me kitty-cornered!"

"Wouldn't be much fun if you did!" Party Animal laughed, returning her glowsticks to baton form.

Growling, Cat Noir leapt up, bouncing off the head of the nearest clerk, and came down claws-out over Party Animal. She sighed and parried his strike, knocking him into another shopkeeper. He brought his foot to the guy's knee, doing all he could not to break it, and somersaulted back to the villain, this time dodging her weapons and striking at her stomach. Now visibly angry, Party Animal dropped the batons, leaving them hanging from her wrists, and came forward with her claws. Cat Noir narrowly dodged having his eyes scratched out, then retaliated with his own claws as he dodged two more jewelers.

Party Animal let out another snarl. "Big guy, a little help?"

With a grunt, the Gorilla lurched forward, slow but powerful, and threw a punch. Cat Noir dodged it, but Party Animal struck from behind, knocking him through the first set of doors in the entrance. Laughing, she slammed a baton into the nearest jewelry case, shattering it and leaving Cat Noir puzzled. Her plan soon became clear, though, when an alarm sounded and metal bars dropped down over all the windows and both sets of doors, leaving him trapped in between.

As Party Animal laughed, a butterfly-shaped flash of energy appeared around her eyes again.

" _Perfect, Party Animal!"_ Hawk Moth laughed. _"Now seize his Miraculous and be done with him!"_

Party Animal nodded and reached through the bars, but Cat Noir simply swatted her hand. Annoyed, she swung a baton at him, but he countered with his staff, then pressed her back away from him.

"Hands off the bling!" he snapped.

"I figured you wouldn't make this easy!" she snarled, desperate to be heard above the alarm. "So I'll have to use my backup plan!" She leapt back to the nearest brainwashed jeweler, who was now oddly sluggish, and knocked him upside the head with one of her batons. The man crumpled to the floor, and she raised her batons again. "You have five seconds to toss me the ring before I crush his skull!"

Cat Noir cast her a steely gaze, but his eyes flickered from left to right, looking for a way to stop her.Thinking fast, he grabbed for his staff and prepared his plan. He concentrated feelings of entropy and misfortune into his paw, and dark energy collected into it. "Cataclysm!"

The black-clad hero swiped his fingers across the bars keeping him out of the store, and instantly they began to oxidize. With his other hand, he pressed the button on his bo staff, extending it much further outward and nailing Party Animal between the eyes, sending her crashing into another display case. When the bars were fully rusted over, he retracted his staff back to its normal length and smashed them, clearing just enough space for him to pounce through and swat Party Animal into a wall.

She hit the wall with a crash, collapsing at the base of it as Cat Noir walked over to her. "You think you're pretty clever, don't you?" the villain snarled, panting.

Cat Noir shrugged. "Well, we cats _are_ supposed to be intelligent, aren't we?" he said, smirking.

To his surprise, Party Animal just chuckled, the sound faint over the still blaring alarm, but still noticeable. "Really? Because from where I'm standing, putting yourself on a timer when the only one who can actually stop me is nowhere to be seen is a pretty dumb move," she said, straightening out from her position.

"Oh, don't worry. Ladybug'll be here any second now," Cat Noir responded as he retracted his staff and pressed the glowing paw print button at the top. A screen slid out, and an image of Ladybug appeared on it, a question mark next to her face. "...Or, maybe not," he muttered, grimacing. The communicators only worked when the two of them were transformed, which she obviously was not, and with no other method to contact her, he was stuck with a slowly ticking timer and a dangerous supervillain. Still, he braced himself for battle, breaking his staff into twin batons to fight her in her own style.

Party Animal didn't give an inch as they resumed their fight, their batons perfect matches for each other. Unfortunately, Party Animal was done fighting one-on-one, and kept ducking behind her minions. It didn't escape Cat Noir's notice, though, that the zombified partiers were moving a lot slower now. _What's up with them?_ He wondered, which turned out to be a problem when Party Animal sensed his distraction and sent him careening into the ceiling with a superstrong kick. With his incredible reflexes, he bounced off, only for Party Animal to strike again, slamming him into the floor. Even worse, her victims had encircled him, leaving him no escape, and, based on the one remaining toeprint on his ring, he had less than two minutes before he powered down.

Just then, help arrived, and it wasn't Ladybug. Police sirens blared over the store's alarm.

"Attention, lawbreaker!" came a husky voice through a megaphone, shouting over the awful racket. "This is Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix! Drop whatever you've stolen and come out with your hands up!"

"Rats," Party Animal snarled. "Why do the police always have to ruin the best parties? Hm...I can't face them all now, and Ladybug will be right behind them." Turning, she seized a clerk by the collar and threw him over to the security box on the wall. "Disable the security and destroy the camera footage!" she ordered, then she turned to the Gorilla. "Hey, big guy - you got a car?"

The Gorilla nodded.

"Good. You'll be my getaway driver. The rest of you, draw the cops' fire!"

By this point, the zombified clerk had entered the security code. The bars over the exits slid away, and the alarm died down, allowing the store's upbeat rock to be heard under the police sirens. All of the brainwashed people returned to their dancing, heading for the door as Party Animal and the Gorilla slipped out the back.

"Well, forgive me if I don't stick around. I've got a lot of preparations to make for tomorrow night. Things to steal, minions to brainwash, you know the deal. So I'll be on my way, if you don't mind. Ta ta, Pussycat!" Party Animal said, as she left. Cat Noir tried to rush after her, but was blocked by the wave of minions that danced toward the front, arraying themselves in front of the police and blocking their view.

For a few moments, Cat Noir stood in the empty Boucheron, debating whether or not to follow Party Animal. However, the beeping of his ring made his decision for him. In just a moment, he transformed back into regular old Adrien Agreste, and shoved Plagg into his jacket. Much as he hated it, Party Animal would have to wait.

"Stop!" he screamed, running out the front door. "Don't shoot! They've been brainwashed!"

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" _Party Animal, what do you think you're doing?! You had a perfect opportunity to steal his Miraculous!_ " Hawk Moth yelled, causing Party Animal to sigh. And to think that seconds ago she had been ecstatic to ride in her very own stolen limo. Whoever he was, the bodyguard - Cecil, she decided - sure was connected!

"Yeah, and bring down the wrath of Ladybug and the police before I'm ready!" she said as she helped herself to a sparkling water. "Stopping Cat Noir, even permanently, won't do me any good as long as Ladybug's still around. I need to take her out first, otherwise I'll just be giving her more of a reason to fight."

For a few moments, there was silence, then Party Animal smirked as she heard Hawk Moth's sigh echo throughout her mind. " _Very well, I accept your reasoning. But the next time you run into those heroes, you will take their Miraculouses! No excuses!_ "

Party Animal chuckled. "Oh, believe me, Hawk Moth. The next time I run into them, I won't just be bringing you their Miraculouses. I'll be bringing you their heads on a silver platter," she said, before tossing back her head and letting loose a savage, diabolical howl.

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 **Several hours later…**

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Marinette let out a sigh. "I can't believe he never showed up," she said to Alya, shaking her head.

Alya shrugged. "Adrien's missed school before, Marinette. You'll get your chance now."

"Yeah," Nino said, frowning, "but it's not like my bud to miss the whole day and not call. I'm a little worried."

As soon as school had let out for the day the three had walked down to Adrien's house, the Agreste mansion, a massive gated manor home in the most upscale neighborhood in Paris.

"Well, we're here now. First obstacle, getting through the gate," Alya muttered, looking at her two companions.

Nino stepped forward and pressed the button on the intercom. "Uh, hello? We'd, uh, like to see Adrien, please."

After a few moments, a sharp female voice came from the intercom. _"Mr. Lahiffe, while I'm sure Adrien would appreciate your coming by, Mr. Agreste has expressly stated that Adrien is to be left alone due to today's close call at the Boucheron."_ said the voice, whom the three recognized as Nathalie Sancoeur, Adrien's father's personal assistant.

"Wait, what close call?" Marinette asked anxiously.

" _An akuma attacked the Boucheron during Adrien's photo shoot,"_ Nathalie said. _"While Adrien was unhurt, the akuma somehow brainwashed his bodyguard and absconded with his transportation. When Mr. Agreste was informed about the events, he felt like it would be best for Adrien to remain at home until a replacement security detail could be arranged."_

Marinette went stock still at that. She could hardly breathe. Adrien? Attacked? And she wasn't there? What if something had happened? What if…?

"An attack at the Boucheron?" Alya asked, her sharp tone cutting through Marinette's panic. "Why didn't we hear about this sooner?"

"Uh, because we were in school?" Nino guessed. "I doubt that they'd interrupt class just to tell us that if Adrien wasn't hurt. Plus, I can't think of any faster way to keep you from paying attention in class than mentioning an akuma attack."

Alya huffed, crossing her arms. "The news has to get out there!" she said, growling. She opened her mouth to say more, but was stopped by Marinette rushing over to the intercom.

"Ms. Sancoeur, can you please let us in? I'm sure that Mr. Agreste is worried about Adrien, but I think that right now, seeing his friends would really help him, especially if he won't be able to go out again for a little while."

" _Hm, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, right? Mr. Agreste has spoken quite highly of you...please wait here a moment,_ " Nathalie said, before the intercom stopped with a burst of static.

"Nice going, girl!" Alya complemented, patting Marinette on the back. "Your designs are getting you everywhere today!"

"As if!" came a snide voice from behind them. They turned to see Chloé sauntering up the sidewalk, Sabrina not far behind. "Mr. Agreste is probably just big on _charity cases_."

"He's also big on trash cleanup," Alya retorted. "So why don't you get lost?"

Chloé glared, and Sabrina stepped out in front of her, getting right in Alya's face. "You can't talk to Chloé like that!" she cried, her voice squeaking with anger.

"Looks like I just did!" Alya shot back, not giving an inch.

"Take it back or I'll...I'll…" Sabrina stood her ground, but her voice began to falter, making Chloé roll her eyes and pull her back.

"Or _I'll_ make you regret it!" the bottle-blonde snapped.

Alya replied by laughing in Chloé's face. " _You?_ What can _you_ possibly do?"

Chloé sent back an evil smirk. "Oh, I don't know," she said, twirling her ponytail over one finger. "Maybe tomorrow I'll tell Daddy that tonight's coq a vin had me hugging the toilet overnight. You know, the dish that his hotel's _head chef_ sent down? Hm?"

Alya's dark face paled. She gasped and took a step back, looking as if she'd been slapped. Marinette and Nino didn't look much better. "You wouldn't!"

"Don't test me, Césaire," Chloé snarled. Behind her, Sabrina crossed her arms and gave a smug look.

Blood rushed to Marinette's cheeks. Chloé had been obnoxious before, but this was a new low. As everybody in their class knew (mainly because Chloé kept reminding them), Chloé's father was André Bourgeois, mayor of Paris and owner of the luxury hotel Le Grand Paris. The combination of wealth and power was what had allowed Chloé to remain a constant thorn in Marinette's side on par with Hawk Moth. It was also worth noting, though, that the head chef at Le Grand Paris's restaurant happened to be Alya's mother, Marlena Césaire. It appeared that Chloé had finally made the connection - or perhaps had only recently decided to strike such a low blow.

"You nasty, spoiled, conniving little beast!" Marinette screeched. "If you even _think_ about doing such a thing, I'll-"

The only thing that stopped a catfight from breaking out was another burst of static from the intercom, followed by the soft but commanding voice of Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste. _"Marinette Dupain-Cheng,"_ he said, his voice like liquid nitrogen. _"I believe that my assistant has made it clear that my son will not be receiving visitors today. He has suffered a traumatic incident and lost his bodyguard."_

Marinette moved to get to the intercom, but Chloé beat her to it. "Please, sir," she begged, her voice syrupy-sweet, "we heard about what happened to poor Adrien, and we just _had_ to make sure he was okay! You remember me, don't you? I'm Chloé Bourgeois. You know, the mayor's daughter?"

" _I'm well aware of who you are,"_ Mr. Agreste answered, his tone unchanged. _"And my mind is unchanged. Please leave before I call security."_

With newfound aggression, Marinette pushed Chloé aside and took the intercom. "Well, then maybe _you'll_ see me, sir? Just for a minute, please? And maybe you could just, um, _give_ Adrien something for me?"

All was silent for a moment as Mr. Agreste considered this. _"Very well,"_ he replied. _"You - and_ only _you - may enter. But make it quick! I'm a busy man."_

With a creak, the iron gates lurched open, and Marinette stepped through. Chloé and Sabrina tried to rush ahead of her, but Nino and Alya acted just as quickly, grabbing them by the backs of their jackets and holding tight.

"You got this, girl!" Alya said, giving Marinette a smile.

"Tell Adrien I said 'hey'!" Nino added.

Marinette gave them a thumbs-up and sprinted past the courtyard and up to the mansion's front door. She took a deep breath and mentally readied herself. Bad enough that it concerned Adrien, the love of her life, but now she had to face his dad, a man somehow more terrifying than Hawk Moth - and, ironically, her idol in the world of fashion design. She'd gotten on his good side with a derby hat design, but convincing him to allow Adrien to attend a concert with her was still going to be a Herculean task.

"You've got this, Marinette!" Tikki whispered from within her purse. "Just be polite and confident! Men like Mr. Agreste respect that!"

Marinette nodded and took another breath before turning the knob and entering the opulent Agreste mansion. The foyer was even more beautiful than the exterior, made of highly-polished white marble on all sides with lamps hanging from the ceiling and exotic artwork decorating the walls. Ahead of her was an impressive staircase leading up to a larger-than-life portrait of Mr. Agreste and Adrien standing side by side, both dressed entirely in black. Underneath the portrait stood its real-life subjects, in considerably more colorful attire. Mr. Agreste wore his usual outfit, a white jacket over a dark grey vest, red slacks, and a red and white striped cravat. His hair was the same as the portrait's, though - platinum-blonde and combed straight back, not a strand out of place. Not far beside them was Ms. Sancoeur, looking prim and proper as ever in her dark pantsuit. Adrien smiled and waved, but Mr. Agreste simply stared at her from behind his cat's-eye glasses, frowning.

"All right, Marinette," said Mr. Agreste, his eyes boring into his guest. "It seems my son insisted on seeing you, after all. Now, what is it that you had to say?"

Goosebumps erupted all down Marinette's arms. Now she had to do this with Adrien watching? Fighting the Puppeteer hadn't been this hard! Fighting to keep herself calm, she began to speak.

"Well, Mr. Agreste, you might not know this, but, uh, well...Adrien might have told you that I designed the cover for Jagged Stone's latest album. " Every word was a battle. Adrien was smiling and subtly moving his hand in a "keep going" gesture, but it was just making her more nervous.

Gabriel stared down at her, still wearing that sneer. And he actually _liked_ her, at least more than he liked most people! "I hope you've come to do more than brag," he replied. Was that a joke? Marinette couldn't tell.

"No, sir! Well, you also might've heard that he's performing live tomorrow night, and he personally gave me some backstage passes." Marinette was sweating bullets. Mr. Agreste's glare intensified with every word. "I thought that Adrien might like...to...go?"

The next moment was the quietest that Marinette had ever experienced. She thought she might actually be able to hear her hair growing as Mr. Agreste glared down at her. Adrien looked torn. Marinette understood. He was having such an exciting prospect dangled out in front of him and was worried that it might be snatched away at a moment's notice, like a piece of string in front of a cat. Marinette felt exactly the same way. Her first date with Adrien was hanging in the balance!

"Let me see if I understand this, Ms. Dupain-Cheng," Mr. Agreste finally said. His voice was slow, deliberate, and deadly, growing ever colder. "Less than twelve hours ago, my son was involved in a store robbery. He was nearly brainwashed and kidnapped. His bodyguard is gone. And now you wish him to attend a rock concert full of rowdy teens, accompanied only by other children? Is that correct?"

Marinette shrank back, but Tikki's words echoed in her mind.

" _Just be polite and confident! Men like Mr. Agreste respect that!"_

"With all due respect, sir, these aren't ordinary tickets," Marinette responded, her voice gaining strength. "They're _backstage passes_. As in, an exclusive area with much higher security. Adrien will be much safer there than a normal seat. And I - I promise that Adrien will be safe with me - _us_ \- that is to say, Alya and Nino and I - and this is a big opportunity, and I'm sure he really, _really_ wants to go!"

Marinette gasped for air, and Adrien seized his chance, trying not to seem too eager. "She makes some good points, Dad. And you could probably send extra security. Jagged Stone sorta owes you one, too, after you designed his jacket. Maybe you could give him a call?"

Mr. Agreste's eyes darted back and forth between his son and his guest. His nostrils flared, and he folded his hands. "I shall consider it," was his only response.

Marinette and Adrien both knew not to push the subject. However, Marinette ran up to Adrien and pulled the extra ticket from her handbag, careful to hide Tikki. "Uh, here," she sputtered. "Well, uh, whether or not you go, I, uh, well, it's just - I'd rather not have anyone else trying to butter me up, you know?"

Adrien nodded and took the ticket. "Thanks," he whispered, patting her on the shoulder. Marinette spun around just in time to hide the fact that her whole face had gone as red as Ladybug's unitard.

"Good-bye, Mr. Agreste!" she called back as she ran out. "Thank you for your time! Oh, and Adrien, Nino says 'hi'!"

Marinette burst out the door and closed it behind her, glad to be able to breathe again as she slowed down to walk out the front gates. Nino, Alya, and even Chloé and Sabrina were still there, eager to hear the results.

"Dish, girl!" Alya urged, making Marinette blush again. "What'd he say? You finally getting that date?"

Marinette frowned and shrugged. "Mr. Agreste said he'd think about it, but I really don't know. I gave Adrien the ticket, though, so, there's that."

"Hmph!" Chloé snorted. "Whatever. He'll probably just end up keeping Adrien home anyway, like he always did," she said. Marinette wasn't quite sure, but she thought she heard a hint of sadness in Chloé's tone underneath the scorn. "Let's get going, Sabrina. You're going to need an entirely new outfit if I'm going to let you be seen with me tomorrow night."

Sabrina gasped. "Y-you mean…" she stuttered, a smile starting to come onto her face.

"Hurry up!" Chloé snapped, before turning on her heel and stalking off, Sabrina running along behind her.

"Wow," Alya commented, turning to Marinette. "You managed to ask out Adrien _and_ tick off Chloé. Nice work. Let's celebrate with some _puits d'amour_. Nino's treat," she said, playfully elbowing Nino in the ribs.

Marinette started laughing while Nino sputtered, "Wait, why _my_ treat?!"

"Because out of the three of us, you got the least done here today. Paying for a treat should make up for that."

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Adrien, meanwhile, had retreated into his bedroom, a two-level palace of a chamber with a giant-screen television, multiple gaming systems, a rock-climbing wall, skateboard quarter-pipe, foosball table, zipline, and its own library. And even with all of that, Adrien Agreste could not manage to enjoy himself.

"There's no way my dad will let me go to that concert, Plagg," Adrien said, pacing back and forth.

Plagg was perched on the coffee table, enjoying another wedge of camembert. "Give it some time, kiddo," the kwami sighed between bites. "He's surprised you before. Besides, planning for failure is a cowardly thing to do. Why don't you think about what you're going to wear on your date?"

Adrien stopped in his tracks. He was always caught off-guard by how naive the kwami could be. "It's not a _date_ , Plagg!" he snapped. "I'm just going to a concert with friends!"

"Tell that to Marinette," Plagg snickered. "She was crushing pretty hard! Didn't you see how nervous she was?"

Adrien dismissed this with a wave of his hand. "She was just scared of my dad. I don't blame her. Trust me, Marinette and I are just friends. Besides, you know there's only one girl for me."

Adrien was quiet for a moment, visions of black spots in his eyes. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what this is," he continued, taking a breath. "Like I said, Dad's not gonna let me go."

Plagg finished his cheese and let out a satisfied belch. "Hey, if all else fails, I could sneak you out."

Adrien shook his head. "Nah, Dad would find me too quick, and then I'd have to explain how I got there. Besides, you're my kwami. Aren't you supposed to be setting me on the right path?"

"Who do you think I am? Tikki?" Plagg asked, rolling his eyes.

"Who?"

"Never mind. The point is, you have options. But if you want to be the type who's all work and no play, then why don't you try and figure out what Party Animal is up to? I mean, why rob a jewelry store? Hawk Moth's villains are usually out for revenge, not money. Now, if it were a fromagerie, I could understand…"

While Plagg got comfortable on the couch, Adrien sat down at his computer and accessed his favorite resource for all things Ladybug. No such luck, though. Alya hadn't updated her Ladyblog today, and the most recent entry was footage of his and Ladybug's defeat of Mr. Mister. Was she nearby when that had happened? Adrien shook his head. It didn't matter. But without more information on Party Animal, it was impossible to say where she'd strike next. If his dad weren't watching so closely, sending Nathalie to check in every fifteen minutes, Adrien would go out on patrol. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was up to Ladybug…

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Party Animal let out a wild cheer as the limo screeched to the curb beside its next destination. Few people would ever know that the only thing more awesome than being chauffeured in your own limo was being chauffeured in your own limo with a reckless driver. The loud Japanese bubblegum pop music blaring out the radio was making Cecil's movements and reflexes ultra-fast.

" _Party Animal, what exactly are you doing now?_ " came Hawk Moth's voice, causing Party Animal to sigh as she opened the door to the limo.

"You know, you're more than welcome to come out and join me if you insist on micromanaging every little detail of my plan," she grumbled, slamming the door to the limo behind her. "Honestly, the terror factor alone would be worth any alterations I had to make."

" _Be careful with that tone, Party Animal,_ " Hawk Moth growled. " _I have allowed you free reign thus far, but I am starting to lose my patience. Especially since I do not see how walking into the Paris Police Headquarters will help you do anything aside from get caught._ "

"Oh, have faith, would you? All of your other villains rushed straight into the fight, and ended up accomplishing nothing. I, on the other hand, have big plans, and you just need to trust that I know what I'm doing," Party Animal replied, shaking her head as she walked up to the distinctive edifice that was the Paris Police Headquarters. "Besides, apart from everything else, they're sure to track my new limo, and I'm _not_ giving it up! Cecil, the iPod!"

The Gorilla grunted and tossed the pocket-sized device to her out the driver's side window.

"Good boy. Now wait here while I get to work."

With a smile, Party Animal charged in, kicking down the door. Two dozen officers snapped to attention, pulling out nightsticks, tasers, and guns.

"Hello, pigs," Party Animal giggled. "I'm the girl who robbed the Boucheron, and I'm here to humiliate you."

"Freeze!" shouted an overweight, ginger-haired officer. "You're under arrest!"

Party Animal started full-on laughing. "I recognize your voice! You're that Lieutenant Raincomprix that interrupted my fight at the Boucheron! You've faced off against how many supervillains at this point, and you still think you can stop one? You really should just quit while you're behind."

Clicking her tongue, she maneuvered her thumb over the iPod, bringing up a loud, fast-paced conga song. Just as Lieutenant Raincomprix leveled his gun, she leapt into battle. She ducked low and expanded her right baton, slamming it up and sending the officer's weapon flying into the air. With one swift kick, she knocked it into a corner, then spun her smaller glowstick before his eyes. The officer zoned out and began to wildly rotate his hips and shoulders. As he danced, the villain moved on to more victims, disarming and hypnotizing officer after officer with utter ease. Within minutes, all the officers in the room were under her sway, marching in one long conga line.

"Well, that should keep them from causing any more trouble," Party Animal commented. "Good job, me. Now, on to the next steps: Food, lodging, and a place for the afterparty. Hmm…" she said, tapping her finger on her chin. "What is the best hotel in Paris?"

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 **The Next Morning…**

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Marinette was jerked out of a fine sleep by the ringing of her cell. Grabbing blindly, she managed to seize her phone on the third try. It was Alya.

"Weird," Marinette muttered, looking at the time. It was only half past six. Alya never called this early, especially on a Saturday. It figured that she'd only get a few hours of sleep. She'd spent half the night combing every jewelry store in the city, trying to find the villain that had nearly taken Adrien, but she hadn't turned up a single lead. Rubbing her eyes, Marinette swiped her finger and answered the call. "Alya?"

"Hey, Marinette," Alya replied. She sounded worried - more so than Marinette had ever heard. "Sorry to call you so early. I needed to talk to somebody."

Marinette sat bolt upright. "What's wrong?" she asked, now much more focused.

"It's my mom. She never came home last night!"

"What?!" Marinette yelled. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Alya said, her voice panicked. "I texted her, I called her, I called the hotel, I even tried calling Chloé! Nothing. I'm really freaking out here!"

"Calm down, Alya," Marinette instructed, even though she felt exactly the same. "We'll figure this out together...wait, why do you have Chloé's number?"

"I have everyone's number, girl. Besides, I needed a number of someone else from the hotel, and she's more likely to answer the phone than her dad."

"I see…" Marinette said, unsure what to think about her best friend having her arch-enemy's number, but quickly shook her head. No, not worth thinking about now. "Do you have any idea what could have happened?" she said, before gasping. "Do you think that Chloé actually got her fired?"

"No, she didn't," Alya replied, her voice filled with certainty. "If she had, my mom would have been home early, not late. Plus, she would have sent me a text or something letting me know. Whatever's going on here, it's not that."

"Okay, that's good at least. But do you have any other ideas?" Marinette asked.

"Well…" Alya said hesitantly.

"'Well' what?" Marinette asked.

"Well, Nathalie told us yesterday that there was a villain with brainwashing powers running around, right? And we haven't heard anything about Ladybug taking them down. So, I'm kind of starting to think that…"

"...That the villain got to your mom?" Marinette asked, a feeling of intense dread coming over her. "But why? She was stealing jewelry before, why would she be going after a chef?"

"I don't know, but it seems like the best explanation at the moment," Alya said, before sighing. "Anyway, sorry to bug you. I'm just freaking out, and I needed someone to talk to."

"No worries, Alya! I'm always here for you," Marinette said, her cheery tone masking the guilt that was consuming her every second. "In fact, I say we investigate this ourselves. If nobody will pick up at the hotel, then we'll just go right over there. Right now."

"Thanks, Marinette. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you. It's times like this that I wish I had Ladybug's cell."

Marinette chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that'd be pretty great. So, I'll meet you at the hotel in ten?"

"Great. Bye!"

The phone clicked off, and Marinette immediately turned to the pillow on her nightstand, where Tikki was slouching, staring at Marinette. "You get all that, Tikki?"

"Most of it," Tikki yawned. "For a budding journalist, Alya's a little naive, isn't she?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, about her mom! Do you think she's right?"

"Much as I hate to say it, I hope so," Tikki answered, her already enormous eyes wide with worry. "We can undo a villain's mind control with the Miraculous Ladybug. It'd be a lot scarier if she was in an accident!"

Marinette nodded frantically, her eyes wide. "I hadn't even thought of that!" she said.

Noticing the look in her eyes, Tikki flew up to Marinette and touched her cheek. "Don't blame yourself, Marinette. We looked all over for that villain, and we couldn't find anything. We just need to make sure we stop them before they do anything else. Should we transform?"

"Not yet," Marinette replied, shaking her head. "Alya's expecting Marinette, not Ladybug."

Within minutes, Marinette was dressed and ready to go. Tikki was hidden in her handbag, as usual. She dashed downstairs and out through the Boulangerie Patisserie.

"Morning, Marinette," her father greeted. Tom Dupain was a tall, broad man with a well-trimmed mustache and Marinette's kind smile. Many would argue he made the best croissants in Paris. "Awfully early to be heading out, isn't it?"

Marinette shrugged. "Alya and I need to check something out."

"All right, dear," her mom said. Sabine Cheng, on the other hand, was a petite Chinese woman with Marinette's sparkling eyes. "Just take some breakfast for the road."

Marinette nodded. "Thanks!" she told them, seizing a muffin and running out the door. She couldn't bring herself to eat, though. Her stomach was twisted up as she thought of all the horrible things that might've happened to Alya's mom. Luckily, Le Grand Paris was only a few blocks away. It was a beautiful work of architecture, a white six-story building with red awnings over every window.

Alya was waiting at the front door, staring at the doorman. Marinette couldn't help staring, too. The tall, thin gentleman that had been so diligent in the past was instead rocking out to headphones. He was dancing around, oblivious to the world around him.

"This is weird, right?" Alya asked as she recorded his dance on her phone. "Like the work of an akuma?"

"Probably," Marinette nodded, pushing the door open. "But we're here to check on your mom."

"Right," Alya agreed as they walked in. The lobby was noisier and more alive than Marinette had ever seen it, with hip-hop beats blaring through the speakers. Bellhops and concierges were break dancing everywhere, but there wasn't a guest in sight. Fascinated, Alya went right back to filming it.

"It's like something out of an old horror movie," Marinette commented, staring at the dancing employees. "Or a musical. Or both."

Alya nodded and they walked their way to the elevator. Nobody tried to stop them, so they got in and pressed the button for the sixth floor.

"What do we do if the villain is up there?" Marinette asked.

Alya tensed up. "I hadn't thought of that," she realized as the elevator started to move. "I guess we cut and run! I'll post an update to my blog as soon as I can. Hopefully Ladybug reads it!"

The elevator stopped with a loud "ding", and the doors flew open. Looking around carefully, they found the restaurant no different than the lobby. The hip-hop was as loud as it was downstairs, and servers and patrons alike were caught in a mad dance, save for two people.

"Come on, Daddy!" Chloé was pleading. She and Sabrina were standing in front of Mayor Bourgeois, seizing him by his dark suit in a desperate bid to stop his dancing. "I'm serious! As your daughter, I order you to stop!"

It was no use. Her father was completely ignoring her, and with a wild swing of his body they were thrown into a nearby table.

"Chloé!" Marinette shouted as she and Alya ran over to help them up. "What happened here?"

Sabrina gladly accepted Alya's help, but Chloé sneered and slapped Marinette's hand away. "Ugh, all this and now you two! I've got enough to deal with here without you two bugging me! What are you doing here?"

"We came to check on Alya's mom!" Marinette snapped, rubbing her stinging hand. "She never came home last night."

"Yours, too?" Sabrina asked, tears welling up. "My dad didn't come home, either!"

Alya and Marinette raised an eyebrow at this. Sabrina's father was a cop, after all. If he didn't return home, it could mean something worse than brainwashing.

"So what?" Chloé asked. "There's some akuma out there taking people's parents?"

"I doubt it," Alya replied as she made her way to the kitchen door. "I'm pretty sure this is just an unlucky coincidence. But I'd like to see just how bad this is."

Marinette and Sabrina joined her as Chloé stayed put, still desperately trying to snap her father out of his trance. Alya thrust the door open, and was greeted with a near eardrum-shattering racket. Salsa music was playing from a nearby speaker, and the entire kitchen was in a frenzy - and it wasn't all partying. While there was definitely dancing going on, much of the action came from the chefs preparing what looked to be enough food for a small army, and Marlena Cesaire was in the center of it all. Normally dignified and attentive, the head chef's sharp eyes had dulled, and she was swinging from stove to stove, stirring and flipping and tasting everything that was being prepared.

"Mom!" Alya shouted, pushing aside a saucier and running to embrace her mother. Marlena gave no response, only continuing her frantic cooking. She kept dancing, throwing her daughter off without a care, and began twirling a nearby sous chef, whom she then threw over to a nearby soup tureen where he proceeded to start stirring.

"This is horrifying!" Sabrina gasped. For once, Marinette found herself agreeing with her.

Still desperate, Alya grabbed a nearby water pitcher and threw its contents at her mother. Marlena stopped dancing only long enough to shake herself semi-dry, then went right back to cooking.

"Let's give _this_ a try," Marinette said, walking over to the speaker. She yanked the cord from the outlet, and the music stopped. The kitchen staff slowed down, but neither the dancing nor the cooking came to a complete stop.

When her mother still refused to acknowledge her, Alya simply collapsed onto the ground, her expression despondent. Marinette and Sabrina immediately rushed over to her and half-carried, half-dragged her out of the kitchen, the door closing behind them. Chloé hadn't moved from where she'd stood, and was now resorting to kicking her father in the shin. It affected his dancing, but not his disposition.

"Give it up, Chloé," Marinette told her, shaking her head. "Clearly only the Miraculous Ladybug can snap him out of it."

Alya, who was still half-lying on the floor, perked up at that. "You're right," she said, straightening up. "Ladybug always is able to fix everything a villain causes, no matter what! She'll be able to break this brainwashing in a heartbeat!"

"Then Ladybug had better get to it!" Chloé snapped, her eyes watering. "Daddy has a city to manage, a hotel to run, and a daughter to spoil! Besides, he _hates_ dancing!"

"So what do we do?" Sabrina asked. She looked about ready to burst into tears herself.

"We need to contact Ladybug," Alya told them, standing up and dusting herself off. "I'm going to take some more videos of this and add them to the Ladyblog. Chloé, you should probably alert the media, get people looking for the villain so that Ladybug can find them easily. Don't tell them your dad's under hypnosis, though - we don't want to cause a panic. Sabrina, maybe you should check on your dad and the rest of the police. If they're not brainwashed, then they can probably help organize a search for the villain."

"Since when do _I_ take orders from _you_?" Chloé snapped, still trying not to cry in front of them. Sabrina, on the other hand, was already out the door.

"Listen, Chloé," Alya said, with impressive patience. "I don't like working with you, either, but it's better than just sitting on our hands and letting this villain take over. Ladybug will take care of it eventually, but we should do everything we can to hurry it along!"

Marinette turned away from Alya during this speech, trying to calm her nerves. Just what were they dealing with here? What kind of villain just robbed a jewelry store and turned a hotel into their slaves? "Hey, Alya," she asked, turning back around. "What should I do?"

Alya thought for a minute. "Check on things at your house," she answered. "Maybe I'm being paranoid, and I know it's a long shot, but this villain seems to be going after the best businesses in Paris. First the best jeweler's, then the best hotel and restaurant; they might go after the best bakery next. I really don't want to worry you, but…"

Marinette gulped. She made fists so tight that her fingernails bit into her palms. Her throat had gone dry, and her eyes extra moist. Without a word, she nodded and turned on her heel and headed for the elevator.

"Alya's probably way off, Marinette," Tikki said, emerging from the bag when the elevator doors closed. "I mean, what are the odds that this villain would go after _your_ parents out of all the people in Paris?"

Marinette shook her head. "That's probably true, Tikki," she admitted. "But I have to make sure. We're both going to feel pretty bad if you're wrong."

Tikki nodded as the elevator doors opened, ducking back into the bag as Marinette ran outside the hotel. She wasn't sure she'd ever moved this fast in her civilian identity as she raced over the sidewalk, weaving between pedestrians.

It only took a few minutes for her to reach the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. She flung open the doors and rushed inside, startling Tom and Sabine.

"Marinette?" Tom asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Just...got back...from the hotel…" Marinette said, panting from her run. Without another word, she grabbed each of them in a hug.

"Marinette!" Sabine said, startled. "What happened?"

"Some villain brainwashed Alya's mom," Marinette said, holding her parents tight. "I just got so worried, I had to check up on you!"

Tom and Sabine looked at each other, then reciprocated the hug, holding their daughter tight. "Don't worry, Marinette," Tom said. "We're fine. Nothing's going to happen to us. We promise."

Her eyes still wet, Marinette released her hold on her parents and backed away. "I've, uh, gotta call Alya," she said.

"Of course, dear," said Sabine, smiling. "And while you're up there, maybe you should take a shower? You must have worked up quite a sweat running all the way back here."

Marinette blushed, but nodded. Feeling relaxed for the first time since she woke up, Marinette ascended the stairs.

"You see, Marinette?" Tikki asked. "Your parents are fine. Now, we should try and figure out where this villain will strike next."

"Right," Marinette said, giving a determined nod. "We need to figure out the thing linking their targets together. First, there was a jewelry store. They stole a bunch of gems and brainwashed a bunch of clerks, as well as Adrien's bodyguard. I'm pretty sure the bodyguard just happened to be there, though."

"The clerks were probably just convenient targets," said Tikki, her expression serious. "If the villain was after them specifically, they wouldn't have just targeted one jewelry store, or gone after the hotel."

"And who brainwashes the mayor and just makes him dance, anyway?" Marinette asked.

Tikki thought for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Maybe because they weren't after the mayor...they were after the owner of Le Grand Paris!"

Marinette's eyes widened. "Then Alya was right! Whoever this villain is, they really are targeting the best of everything! But why?"

The two sat in thought for a moment, before Marinette's ears perked up. "Tikki, do you hear something?" she asked.

Tikki nodded. "It sounds like...music?" she said hesitantly. All of a sudden, the two looked at each other with alarm, then rushed toward the window.

Looking down, Marinette gasped as she saw a clearly akumatized girl standing outside the bakery, holding a boombox in her hand as she exited a limo. She was flanked by Adrien's bodyguard and Officer Roger, both of whom were nodding their heads to the beat.

"That's gotta be her!" Marinette whispered, crouching down before the villain could look up and see her. "She's here for my parents! We've got to stop her! Tikki, spots on!"

Marinette brushed her hair aside from her right ear, exposing one of her black earrings. Tikki flew into it, and the earring became bright scarlet, with five black spots. Marinette swooped one hand in front of her face, and a red domino mask covered her eyes. A red unitard with black spots covered her body. She brought a hand to her thigh, and her yo-yo materialized, bound to her waist by its cord. She spun and took a pose, then immediately grabbed the yo-yo, popping it open to reveal a cellphone.

"Alright, let's let Alya know what's going on," she muttered. A few quick taps ensured that the number would show up coming from Marinette rather than Ladybug, and she quickly typed out a message. "Villain at bakery. Hiding in room. Let Ladybug know where they are through Ladyblog," she read back, before hitting the 'SEND' button. "Now, for Cat Noir…"

She pressed a pawprint-shaped symbol, but was answered with only a question mark beside Cat Noir's face. "Great," she sighed. "Guess I'm going solo for this one. At least I won't have to fight him again."

With a deep breath, Ladybug opened up the window and looked outside. Seeing that the villain was gone, she jumped out, landing on her feet in front of the bakery. She readied herself, then, for the second time in five minutes, threw open the doors.

The villain inside turned to see what the commotion was about. She didn't look familiar to Ladybug, but the absurd amount of black jewelry she was wearing confirmed that she was looking at the Boucheron thief.

"Oh, Ladybug!" the akumatized girl greeted, a sinister smile on her painted lips. "Good to finally meet you. Can you give me a minute here? I'm putting in my order."

The villain turned back to Marinette's parents, dazed and swaying slightly to the upbeat bubblegum pop that was playing from the villain's boombox. Ladybug gasped, her eyes starting to tear up behind her mask. Even coming from right upstairs, she was too late to save her parents.

 _Calm down, Ladybug,_ she thought, taking deep breaths. _They're only hypnotized. They'll be fine once you beat this villain._

"Okay," said the villain, oblivious to Ladybug's reaction. "So, I'll take, oh, two-hundred assorted macarons, five croquembouche, seventy-five custard eclairs…"

Her request was interrupted when Ladybug suckerpunched her. Spinning from the blow, the villain used the momentum to right herself, skidding to stop with a hand planted on the ground. "Oh come on!" she shouted. "If you're going to hit me, at least use one of those quips you love so much! I gave you a perfect opportunity for one!"

"Okay!" Ladybug snarled. "You look like you could use some humble pie!"

The superhero launched her yoyo, grabbing the nearest pie, and smashed it into the villain's face. The villain hissed in displeasure.

"Ugh! Too many seeds!" she snarled, wiping off her face as she turned to Tom and Sabine. "Make sure you go _seedless_ with my order!"

"What do you even want?" Ladybug yelled, stepping towards the villain. "A jewelry store, a hotel and restaurant, and now a...a bakery? I have no idea what you're going for!"

The villain chuckled. "What's the matter, too used to your villains having obvious schemes?" she said, smirking. "Well, since I'm such a generous person, I'll clue you in. The name's Party Animal, and from that, I think you can figure out what I want."

Ladybug's eyes widened. "You mean...you're doing all of this... _for a party?!_ "

"Not just any party!" Party Animal said. "The biggest and best birthday party in the history of Paris! One where every citizen will get to unleash all those repressed feelings that keep them from truly living their lives! And nothing's going to keep me from making it happen, no matter how hard you may have tried before!"

"'Before'?" Ladybug repeated. "I've never seen you before in my life!"

" _You_ haven't seen _me_ , but _I've_ seen _you_ , and let me tell you, it was quite the memorable occasion. Especially considering what came from it."

"You mean…" Ladybug said, before sighing. "Great, so this is _my_ fault. Again."

"That's right!" Party Animal snapped. "And my ultimate present will be your downfall! Cecil, Roger, hold her for me!"

All of a sudden, Ladybug found herself hoisted into the air by Party Animal's two assistants, who had been standing hidden near the doors, Roger holding Party Animal's boombox. She struggled, but between "Cecil's" strength and her desire not to hurt the two brainwashed victims, she couldn't free herself.

"Now then," Party Animal said, walking over to Ladybug, "time to take your Miraculous."

"Wait!" Ladybug yelled, still struggling. "Don't you want to wait until your party starts? Finish me off in front of all of Paris?"

"Oh, I will," Party Animal promised. "But that doesn't mean I can't take your Miraculous first. Besides, letting you run around with your powers until tonight is a recipe for disaster. So I'll just take them now, then brainwash you and lock you up somewhere until I'm good and ready for you. After all, Hawk Moth doesn't like waiting."

" _Yes!"_ Hawk Moth hissed in Party Animal's head. _"Finally, the Ladybug Miraculous will be mine, and the Cat Miraculous will follow! You have more than earned your reward, Party Animal!"_ he said, causing the villain to smile triumphantly as she walked over to Ladybug.

 _This is bad!,_ Ladybug thought as Party Animal bent down over her. _Really bad!_ Usually she could count on her villains being too caught up in their own anger to think clearly, but this one didn't seem to have that problem. She was ruthless, cunning, and meticulous. Most of all, she wasn't about to make a stupid mistake. If she was going to get out of this with her Miraculous, she was going to have to be at the top of her game. _If I could just loosen these guys' grips!,_ she thought. Then her mind flashed back to the kitchen. _Of course!_

As Party Animal went to grab her earrings, Ladybug kicked out, knocking the boombox out of Roger's hand and sending it crashing to the ground. The music skipped, and just for a moment the villain's victims became much slower and far less motivated, and as her captors' grips loosened, Ladybug broke free, then brought down her foot and smashed the boombox to pieces.

 _No akuma?_ Ladybug wondered, staring at the broken device. _Then where is it?_

"Do you know how much that thing cost?" Party Animal demanded. "Well, actually I stole it, but still! Get ready to hand over your Miraculous, one way or another!"

Marinette braced herself as Party Animal lengthened her glowsticks back into twin batons. The villain tried to strike first, pouncing forward and swinging her right baton, but Ladybug countered just in time, blocking with her right arm while punching with her left. Party Animal retaliated with a strike to Ladybug's ribs. Ladybug went careening back, but recovered and launched a yo-yo strike. Party Animal was ready for it, wrapping the yo-yo around one of her batons and pulling Ladybug close, but Ladybug lifted her legs as she flew in and delivered a devastating kick to the villain's chest.

As Party Animal recovered, Ladybug retrieved her yo-yo and tackled Party Animal back into the bakery's kitchen, where Tom and Sabine were still hard (albeit slow) at work. Party Animal threw her off and swung her batons again, but Ladybug jumped and dodged, then struck the villain in the face with her yo-yo. While she was stunned, Ladybug grabbed a carton of eggs and nailed a dozen direct hits.

"What's the matter, Party Animal?" she taunted. "Tired of walking on eggshells?"

"I figured this wouldn't be _over easy!_ " Party Animal snarled. She seized a nearby sack of flour, tossing it into the air and hitting it with one of her batons, knocking it into Ladybug's stomach and leaving her breathless, not to mention caked in white powder. "Now _that's_ what I call 'flour power'!" she said, laughing. "No wonder you and Cat Noir use so many puns. They're perfect punctuation for a pounding!"

As soon as Ladybug caught her breath, she delivered a flying kick to Party Animal's face, sending her crashing into a pile of flaky pastries.

"Ooh, are these mille-feuille?" she asked, taking a taste. She turned to Tom and Sabine. "Yeah, I'll take sixty of these, too - twenty raspberry, twenty cream cheese, and twenty blueberry, arranged into a French flag. I'm feeling patriotic."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and moved in for another strike, this time to ram Party Animal with her elbow, but Party Animal caught her with her batons and batted her into a nearby fridge. The villain pounced ahead, but Ladybug caught her by the hair and threw her aside, then aimed her yo-yo at Party Animal's legs, knocking her down. As Ladybug attacked with a piledriver, Party Animal rolled aside and leapt to her feet, kicking Ladybug aside. As Ladybug ran back at her, Party Animal threw open a fridge and grabbed a carton of milk, spilling its contents on the floor. Ladybug slipped and fell, and Party Animal pounced again.

"Guess you're not the _crème de la crème_ , after all!" the villain laughed, but Ladybug threw her aside and scrambled back up.

"No use crying!" the superhero quipped.

Party Animal snarled and jumped the hero yet again, this time managing a strike to Ladybug's face with each of her batons, but Ladybug refused to back down, somersaulting at the villain and delivering a two-footed kick to her face. Party Animal stumbled back, skidding in the milk, but she controlled herself by bending down and guiding her direction with her batons. Dropping one for a moment, she raked Ladybug across the stomach with her claws, then struck another blow with her weapon. Ladybug retaliated with a right hook to Party Animal's jaw, then she balanced herself on her hands and delivered a spinning kick.

"It's getting cramped in here," Party Animal snarled. As soon as she saw an opening, she grabbed Ladybug by the leg and threw her into the air, then struck her with both batons using all her strength, sending the hero crashing through a nearby window. "Clean this place up and get back to work!" she ordered Tom and Sabine, before turning to Cecil and Roger. "You two, get to the limo and head back to the hotel! Party Animal's going hunting."

The brainwashed partiers shuffled off to follow her orders as Party Animal lunged out the broken window, following Ladybug into the street. She took another shot at the superhero with her batons, but Ladybug took advantage of the new open space and hooked her yo-yo on a nearby flagpole, hoisting herself up to dodge and then swinging back down to deliver a ferocious kick. With that, Ladybug catapulted herself onto a nearby rooftop. With a maniacal laugh, Party Animal jumped up to follow her.

"You really shouldn't have let me out in the open!" Ladybug laughed as she continued to swing out of the villain's reach.

"Noted and filed, Ladyblech!" Party Animal sneered as she followed her from roof to roof. Putting all of her power into her next leap, she careened out and flew just above Ladybug, then swung both batons and struck her on the shoulder, sending her crashing into the street. Party came down for a finishing blow a second later, but Ladybug managed to shield herself by twirling her yo-yo in a tight circle, sending Party Animal skidding back.

"No more messing around!" Ladybug yelled, throwing her yo-yo in the air. "Lucky Charm!"

The yo-yo spun in midair, and an object materialized from the void. It was…

"A bird call?" Ladybug pondered, taking the small black-spotted red whistle in her hand. "What do I do with this?"

The superhero cast her eyes around her. The only birds around here were the dozens of pigeons perched on gutters and telephone wires all over the place. _This must be for pigeons! Maybe…_

Thinking quickly, Ladybug spun to avoid an oncoming attack from Party Animal, then cast her yo-yo and struck a nearby gargoyle, yanking herself up and away. She landed atop the ghastly ornament and scrambled up, Party Animal hot on her heels. The villain was faster than Ladybug expected, swatting Ladybug from behind, but Ladybug used it to her advantage, soaring up to the roof where she landed on all fours and sprung right back to her feet. Party Animal was up a second later.

"No more running, Ladybug!" she growled, brandishing her claws as she prowled over. "I'll be taking that Miraculous even if I have to tear off your ears to get them!"

"You've got no reason to celebrate, Party Animal!" Ladybug shot back. She took a deep breath and blew into the bird call. A gentle coo sounded across the rooftop. Party Animal raised an eyebrow, but soon got her answer as a flock of pigeons swarmed over her, beating their wings and pecking her with their beaks.

Ladybug snickered and threw her yo-yo, catching Party Animal around the arms and tying her up tight. She gave a yank and the villain toppled, screaming cuss words at the top of her lungs as the pigeons flew off, scared.

 _Now, where's that akuma?_ the superhero wondered. Her eyes flew all over the various pieces of black jewelry the villain was wearing. _Could it be the onyx pinky ring? The black tortoiseshell bangle? The black tourmaline barrette?_

Making a snap decision, Ladybug grabbed an obsidian necklace and threw it onto the roof, smashing it under her foot. When no akuma emerged, she moved to grab another piece of jewelry, only for Party Animal to slam her head into Ladybug's chin. With a wicked laugh, the villain spun herself around and freed herself from the yo-yo's string.

"What's the matter, Ladybug?" she taunted. "Confused by my bling? Guess robbing the Boucheron was the right move!"

"You mean to tell me that _that's_ why you stole all that jewelry?" Ladybug asked. "Just to fool me?"

"I know, right? It's so simple, I'm surprised no one else has ever thought of it," Party Animal said, laughing. "Oh, and you know what else someone should have thought of sooner? Making sure to take this off your hands," she said, brandishing the bird call.

"When did you get that?" Ladybug said, her eyes wide.

"While I was doing that little gymnastic maneuver," Party Animal said, baring her fangs. "This way, I can make sure you don't take my minions as a consolation prize. Now I just have to keep you from going anywhere for the next five minutes. No Lucky Charm, no Miraculous Ladybug, no problem for me!"

"I can take it back before then!" Ladybug insisted, retracting her yo-yo.

"By all means," Party Animal replied, tucking the bird call into the collar of her bodysuit. "If you want to run out the clock trying to get it back, go right ahead. After all, it's no fun if you don't try!"

Fired up on adrenaline, Ladybug lunged at the villain, only to be batted aside and nearly knocked off the roof. The superhero regained her balance just in time and threw out her yo-yo, but Party Animal was faster, jumping out of the way and pouncing forward, brandishing her batons. Ladybug ducked down just in time and gave an uppercut to Party Animal's chin, only to suffer a baton to the small of her back in response. As Ladybug stumbled forward, Party Animal screamed with laughter, beating her all over with her twin nightsticks. With a final triumphant laugh, she pinned the superhero down on her stomach with one foot and held down the yo-yo with the other.

" _Yes!"_ Hawk Moth screamed in her head. _"You're so close! Now, take the earrings and finish her!"_

"Try and stop me," Party Animal said, bending down over Ladybug and reaching for her earrings. Ladybug's heart was pounding in her chest, her eyes wide with terror.

 _This is it!_ she thought as the villain's hand grabbed her earlobe. Ladybug desperately pushed against the roof, trying to throw the villain off. Her legs kicked wildly to no effect. _Well, nobody can say I didn't fight hard…_

"How many times do I have to tell you?" cried a familiar voice. "Hands off the bling!"

Cat Noir sprung onto the roof and sprinted over, swatting Party Animal aside with his bo staff. It was all the opening Ladybug needed. She pushed herself to her feet and grinned. "Thanks!" she said. "How'd you know we were here, though?"

"The Ladyblog," Cat Noir answered with his Cheshire grin. "It said you two were at the bakery, and then I just followed the trail of destruction. That Alya girl's really on top of things, isn't she?" He looked like he was about to say more, only to be interrupted by Party Animal lunging at him, her face twisted into a painful grimace. The mask of light around her eyes made it perfectly clear what was happening, and how Hawk Moth was reacting to Cat Noir's interruption.

"Get out of the way!" she yelled, swinging at him wildly with her batons. "I'm not going to let you screw this up for me! Not when I'm this close!"

"Aw, don't worry, lady. I'm sure you'll find me _purr-fect_ company once you get to know me," Cat Noir chuckled as he blocked her attacks. Unfortunately, he heard a beep. Ladybug's earrings were on their last spot. Turning to Ladybug, he yelled, "Go! Find someplace safe to transform. I'll hold her off here!"

Ladybug, while looking uncertain, nodded, leaping off the rooftop and running away. As much as she wanted to help Cat Noir fight, she wouldn't do him any good if she ran out her transformation. In a few moments, she had vanished from sight.

"No no no!" Party Animal screamed, attempting to lunge past Cat Noir. "I won't let her get away! Not now!"

She kept on ferociously attacking Cat Noir, but the hero wouldn't budge. Uncharacteristically quiet, he blocked her attacks and stopped her movements with the ease of a trained fighter. In response, Party Animal grew more and more desperate, attacking and attacking until, quite suddenly, a swarm of ladybugs erupted from her collar, flying into the air and vanishing into nothingness.

"No!" Party Animal screamed, trying in vain to catch the ladybugs before they vanished. When they had all disappeared, Party Animal continued staring into the sky, looking around futilely. "This can't be happening, this can't be happening…" she whispered.

At this, Cat Noir smiled. "Looks like she got away," he said, before turning to Party Animal. "So, ready for Round Two?" he said, smirking.

That smirk died quickly, however, when Party Animal lowered her head to look at him, her eyes blazing with anger. "Oh, I'm ready all right," she growled, brandishing her claws. "Ready to rip that Miraculous off of your COLD. DEAD. BODY!" she screamed, as Cat Noir braced himself for the fight of his life.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Back on the ground, Ladybug dashed into an alley and crouched behind a dumpster as she turned back into Marinette, her unitard returning to her normal day clothes. Tikki popped out of her earrings, looking winded.

"We've never faced a villain this prepared!" the kwami gasped.

"Which is why we can't leave Cat Noir alone with her!" Marinette hissed. "We've got to get you recharged, fast!"

Tikki frowned. "We're a couple blocks from the bakery," she observed. "By the time I'm full, it may be too late!"

Marinette frowned and thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up. She dug into her bag, pulling out the muffin her mom had given her earlier. "Chocolate chip," she said, handing it to the kwami. "Eat up!"

Tikki smiled and dug into the sweet treat. It wasn't a fresh-baked cookie, but it was close enough. Though her bites were tiny, she tried to make them as fast as possible without making herself sick.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Up on the rooftop, Cat Noir was beginning to tire. Distracting villains was his specialty. Defeating them was not. And Party Animal's rage was making her twice as ferocious. He could barely defend from her flurry of blows. The only reason he hadn't used Cataclysm yet was because she was on him too ferociously for him to be sure it would be put to good use. He was so hard-pressed, he couldn't even find the time to make puns.

Eventually, he blocked a little too high, and a strike from Party Animal's claws knocked him to the other end of the roof. He lay on the rooftop, groaning, as Party Animal ran over to him.

"No more wasting time!" she yelled, grabbing Cat Noir's hand. "I'm taking that Miraculous _now!_ "

However, before she could remove the ring, she was knocked back by a yo-yo strike. As she skidded backwards, Ladybug landed on the roof, a confident grin on her face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" she said, helping Cat Noir to his feet. Turning back to Party Animal, she entered into a fighting stance. "Now, let's get back to the fight!"

Party Animal looked at Ladybug and Cat Noir, primed and ready for battle. She glanced at Ladybug's Miraculous, completely refreshed. She thought about Hawk Moth's voice in her head, the pain she had felt when he screamed in rage at having the Miraculous denied to him. And she made a decision.

"Sorry, but I don't think I'm going to risk my luck taking the both of you on now," she said, walking backwards to the edge of the roof. "So I'll just be leaving you two for now. After all, I've got to check up on my slaves and make sure they're still working as hard as they should. Wouldn't want to lose interest and have to...get rid of them," she snarled. As Ladybug and Cat Noir's expressions morphed into ones of rage, she said, "See you at the concert tonight," before turning and leaping off of the roof.

Ladybug and Cat Noir rushed to the edge and looked down, only to see Party Animal slipping into an entranceway into the sewers, disappearing from view.

"We've gotta go after her!" said Cat Noir, getting ready to jump off the roof, only for Ladybug to put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Those sewers are an absolute maze. By the time we get down there, she'll already be either long gone or waiting to ambush us," she said, her face set. "As much as I want to take her down now, we're going to have to wait until she shows up again."

"Right," Cat Noir said, looking over at Ladybug. "And I think we know exactly when and where that'll be."

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In the sewers, Party Animal sat with her back against a wall, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry Hawk Moth," she said, her eyes downcast. "I know you wanted me to stay, but I didn't think I could take the two of them on at once. Not after how exhausted I was," she continued. "I've failed you."

" _...Ordinarily, I would agree,"_ said Hawk Moth from inside of Party Animal's mind. _"However, in this instance I am inclined to be lenient. You were undone not by foolishness or distraction, but by those meddlesome heroes showing up when you least expected it. While you may have failed now, you have escaped, which gives you another opportunity to defeat them."_

Party Animal perked up at this. "You mean-" she began, before Hawk Moth interrupted her.

" _Do not mistake my feelings."_ he said, his tone dark. _"I am still furious at this, and at your inability to provide me a Miraculous when you have had four different opportunities to do so. Tonight shall be your final chance. If you do not secure the Miraculouses by midnight, then you shall bear the full brunt of my rage."_

Party Animal's features hardened. "That's more than fair," she said, standing up and dusting herself off. "But you don't need to worry. Thanks to my parting words, those heroes will be exactly where I want them to be. And their deaths shall be the perfect finale to my birthday bash," she continued, a wicked grin on her face. That grin soon faded into a grimace when she looked down on herself, seeing the dust, grime, and residue of battle that covered her body. "Now, back to the hotel. I've got a lot of prep to do to make sure I'm ready."

" _I imagine so. Oh, and happy birthday."_

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"So, do we rendezvous later for a night of music and fighting for our lives?" Cat Noir asked Ladybug, flashing that roguish grin.

"If that's all we can do," Ladybug replied, shaking her head. "But maybe we can stop that concert from happening!"

"Then we'd better stick together," Cat Noir told her, reaching an arm around her shoulder.

Ladybug shook him off, rolling her eyes. Still, he had a point. Party Animal had already overwhelmed each of the heroes individually. Neither of them could afford to be ambushed now, even if the villain didn't seem interested. "Let's talk to Jagged Stone," she suggested.

"Sure," Cat Noir replied. "Any idea where he is?"

"Simple," Ladybug told him. "Whenever he comes to Paris, there's only one place he stays."

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Back at Le Grand Paris, Jagged Stone was still sleeping. Like any respectable rock star, he'd been out late last night, enjoying the Paris nightclubs, and hadn't gotten back until after Party Animal had assaulted the hotel. Too exhausted to take much notice of the brainwashed staff, he had staggered up to his room and passed out, expecting to sleep until noon. Unfortunately, that plan was utterly ruined when he was shaken vigorously by a teenaged girl in a black-spotted unitard.

"Ladybug?" he yawned. He rubbed his eyes and saw her companion, as well. "And Cat Noir? What's going on?"

"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Stone," Ladybug apologized. "But we've got a pressing matter to discuss. A new villain called Party Animal is planning an attack at your concert. We need you to cancel the event."

"Absolutely not!" Jagged Stone replied, pulling himself out of bed. "This concert has been scheduled for months! It's totally sold out! Do you have any idea what cancelling it could do to my reputation?"

"With all due respect, sir," Cat Noir said, "your reputation will recover. Paris might not, if Party Animal's plan works."

"And just what is this plan?" the rock star inquired.

Ladybug and Cat Noir turned to each other, then turned back to Jagged Stone.

"We're, uh, actually not sure," Cat Noir admitted. "But it's nothing good."

"She's almost beaten the two of us twice already," Ladybug continued, a statement which made Jagged Stone gape at her.

"You're joking. She's that strong?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"We've faced stronger," Cat Noir told him. "But she's too good a strategist. We're pretty sure she's actually studied past villains and went out of her way to avoid their mistakes. She's barely gloated, gone straight for the kill, and even made sure to hide her akuma AND keep Ladybug from using her Miraculous Ladybug. Plus, she has the power to brainwash people, and I can guarantee that she'd use it to turn your audience against us. She's already taken over most of the hotel."

"I was wondering why everyone was partying when I got back last night," Jagged Stone said. "I won't lie, that's a scary thought," he admitted, "but I can't just lie down and give in. Besides, I don't have the power to officially cancel a concert. That's up to my promoter. And if you think _I'm_ stubborn, you should see _him._ Best move now would be to get the word out about this villain."

"He's right," Ladybug said, frowning. "I'm more than willing to take a hit to my reputation to keep people safe. Still, be careful with what you tell. Letting them know there's a villain attacking the concert and giving me trouble is fine, but telling them that the police could be brainwashed is a recipe for a full-blown panic."

"Agreed," Jagged Stone said.

"So what do you suggest we do in the meantime?" Cat Noir asked. "Just sit back and wait for her to show back up?"

"No," Ladybug replied with a scowl. "We fight back. Cat Noir, we should split up for now and do whatever we need to do to get ready. After that, let's meet at the Bataclan tonight for the concert. We're going in, metaphorical guns a-blazing."

"It's a date," Cat Noir said, smirking.

"Not the time," said Ladybug, shaking her head. "And Jagged Stone, you may want to relocate before the concert, especially if you're going to get in touch with the media. You don't want Party Animal to know where you are, and even if she doesn't figure out you're here, her minions are all over the hotel. Keep a low profile until you get to the Bataclan. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to make a couple calls."

As she exited onto the balcony and swung away, Cat Noir slumped over, a comically downtrodden expression on his face.

"Don't worry, mate," Jagged Stone said, patting him on the shoulder. "You'll get her one day."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Ladybug wasted no time in returning to the bakery, where Tom and Sabine had finished cleaning up the mess from the fight and were back to baking, awkwardly dancing the whole time. She flipped the sign to 'Closed' and dashed upstairs, where she transformed back into Marinette. Tikki re-emerged her earrings, looking concerned.

"What's the plan, Marinette?" Tikki didn't waste time asking.

"Not much of one," Marinette admitted, looking distressed. "I'm going to face Party Animal, and try to minimize damage. But for now, I need to make sure Alya and the others stay away from that concert."

Gently pushing Tikki into her handbag, Marinette ascended the ladder to her bedroom and made her way to the computer. She placed an immediate request for a video call to Alya, who accepted without hesitation.

"What happened, girl?" Alya said, not wasting a second. "Who was the villain? What did she do? Did Ladybug show up? Did you get me some footage?"

"I'll tell you in a minute," Marinette answered, putting on her best distressed face. "Right now, I need you to call Nino and Adrien. And Chloé and Sabrina, too. Bring them all in for a group chat."

Alya raised an eyebrow, but did as she asked. The surprised faces of Chloé, Sabrina, and Nino appeared in separate windows, but Adrien's remained unanswered.

"What's going on?" Chloé demanded. "I've got more important things to do than look at your sorry faces!"

"Stuff it, Chloé," Alya snapped. "Marinette asked me to call you, so it must be important."

"What is it?" asked Nino.

Marinette sighed. "In a minute. Let's wait for Adrien to log in. He can't have gone far - his dad had him confined to the house."

It wasn't long after she said this that Adrien's face appeared on the screen. Marinette's cheeks went pink staring at her crush. He looked a little sweaty and out of breath - perhaps he'd been practicing fencing again?

"Hey, bro," Nino greeted. "What kept you?"

"Don't worry about it," Adrien said, dismissing the question with a wave of the hand. "What's up? You're an unlikely group."

"Marinette asked for us," Sabrina answered.

"But she hasn't said why!" Chloé snapped.

"Here's why!" Marinette seethed. She realized that she could avoid getting tongue-tied by Adrien if she looked at someone else. Right now she decided to focus on Alya. "The villain that attacked the Boucheron and Le Grand Paris also attacked the bakery."

Nino gasped. "No! Are you okay?"

"Obviously she is if she's able to call us," Chloé said, giving an arrogant flip of her ponytail.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette assured. "But my parents aren't. She hypnotized them into preparing a huge dessert table for her."

All five faces on Marinette's screen simultaneously raised an eyebrow.

"No, really! This villain calls herself 'Party Animal', and she's super dangerous. She was fighting Ladybug on even ground!"

"Really?!" Alya asked, stunned. "That's insane! Do you know how the fight ended?"

"Not sure. She threw her out the window and that's all I saw. Well, that and that she was with Adrien's bodyguard and Sabrina's dad. Not sure what happened afterwards, but since my parents are still brainwashed, I'm guessing she got away."

Sabrina gasped, her worst fears confirmed.

"And the bad news keeps coming! While she was ordering my parents around, she mentioned she had some big plan at the Jagged Stone concert! Guys, I think we should stay away from there."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a smart move. Besides, my dad was hardly thinking about letting me go, anyway. I'm not going to risk trying to convince him now that he'll see it as even more dangerous."

"Yeah, you two should stay home," Alya said. "But I'm going to be there."

"What?!" Marinette and Adrien yelled.

"But Alya! You just heard me say that the villain's going to be there!" Marinette continued, her expression terrified, albeit more out of fear for Alya than actual fear of Party Animal.

"I know, but that's why I have to go," Alya said.

"Alya, I know you want to update your Ladyblog, but this is just too dangerous!" Marinette snapped. "Look at everything this girl's already done!"

"Why do you think I'm going?!" Alya snapped right back. "She brainwashed my mother! She's gone on a rampage throughout Paris! I'm not going to sit back and let her get away with this! Besides, you already said that Ladybug had a lot of trouble with her. She's going to need all the help she can get!"

"No offense, Alya," Adrien chimed in. "But what can _you_ do to help a superhero?"

"No clue, but I know that I definitely _can't_ if I hide scared tonight!" Alya said. "Look, I totally understand why you two aren't going. Marinette, you have to look after your parents. Adrien, your dad's not going to let you go. I don't think any less of you two for not wanting to put yourselves in the middle of this. But you're not going to be able to convince me not to go."

"Same here," Nino said, his face grim. "I might not have a horse in this race like she does, but I'm not going to let my girlfriend go into a warzone without me."

Marinette groaned, exasperated. "Sabrina, Chloé, what about you two?"

Chloé scowled. "The only one who tells _me_ what to do is currently break dancing upstairs," she said. "Nothing is stopping me from seeing this villain go down!"

"And if Chloé's in, then so am I," Sabrina continued. "Besides, you said that this villain's using my father as some sort of lackey. I'm not going to miss Ladybug giving her exactly what she deserves," she concluded, a determined expression on her face.

Marinette shook her head. She'd gone into this trying to protect them, and somehow convinced them to walk right into the villain's trap. How does a person screw up this badly? "You know that if you go, she's just going to hypnotize you, right? All you'll be doing is adding to her army," she said, trying one last tactic. She hated being this negative, but she couldn't bear to have to fight against her friends. Even Chloé didn't deserve to be brainwashed like that.

"If we know it's coming, we can try to avoid it," Alya said. "Besides, we have backstage passes. If we head in through that way and stay there, we have a better chance of avoiding her."

At that, Marinette just sighed. "I can see that there's no talking you out of this," she said, frowning. "Just be safe and ready to run, okay? I don't know if I could take finding out you guys got brainwashed because of me and my tickets."

"Because of _you_?" Chloé repeated, rolling her eyes. "Listen to you, Marinette! And you think _I'm_ self-centered? We'd be going with or without this warning! Besides, Sabrina and I got our tickets on our own, thank you very much!"

"At least now we know the danger," Nino agreed. "Trust me, Marinette, we're not going to be reckless."

"Just promise me you'll be ready to bolt at the first sign of danger," Adrien begged.

"We will," Alya promised. "I promise you, the Ladyblog and I aren't going down like that."

With that, Alya's window closed, and was soon followed by Nino's, Chloé's, and Sabrina's.

"Sorry, Marinette," Adrien apologized. "Looks like this didn't work out the way you planned."

"There'll be other times," Marinette said, smiling. For some reason, the emotions of what just occurred made it easier to talk to him normally. "Just stay safe, and try not to upset your dad too much. I don't want him to think about taking you out of school, even after this whole thing blows over."

"Can do," Adrien said, grinning, before his window closed as well.

Marinette got up and managed to walk only as far as her bed before collapsing, holding her face in frustration. "Well, that was a complete failure!"

"Don't blame yourself, Marinette," said Tikki, flitting up to face her. "You can't control other people's decisions. Even Hawk Moth can't do _that_. This just makes it that much more important that you stop Party Animal tonight."

"Easier said than done," Marinette said. "There's not much I can do that she won't have planned for. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Not use Lucky Charm?"

"But that's the thing," Tikki said, smiling. "She might be prepared for you using Lucky Charm, but she has no way of preparing for what your Lucky Charm will be. Last time you used Lucky Charm on her, you almost won. The only reason you didn't was because she made sure to hide where her akuma was. Now that you know that, you can figure out where she's hiding it and stop her."

"You're right," said Marinette, smiling a bit in response. "Even _she_ can't plan for the Lucky Charm. I've just got to put my faith in Cat Noir and my Miraculous. No use in worrying. Tonight, we're taking Party Animal down, and saving Paris.

"So why am I totally freaking out?!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Jagged Stone did not, in fact, find another hotel. Le Grand Paris was comfortable, and there were few hotels that would accommodate a full-grown crocodile like his beloved pet, Fang, who was currently lounging in the tub. Still, he _did_ lock his door, as well as pull the curtains over his windows. And he certainly prepared to call the media...eventually. After all, he was still waking up, and it could wait, right? Besides, the longer he waited, the less he'd have to deal with his promoter yelling at him for sabotaging his own concert.

"Honestly, it's a good thing there are so many cool people here, Fang," Jagged Stone said to his pet as he applied his makeup. "I mean, this is, what, the third time I've gotten involved in a villain's plan? Fourth if you count the time I actually _was_ a villain. If I get brainwashed again, I think my manager might just keep me out of Paris completely."

"Aw, that'd be a real shame," came a voice from outside the bathroom door. Shocked, Jagged Stone turned to see what could only be Party Animal, leaning against the doorframe and smiling at him. "Almost makes me want to let you keep your free will."

"How the hell did you get in here?!" Jagged Stone yelled, backing against the wall. Still smirking, Party Animal gestured toward the door, which was wide open.

"All I had to do was check the hotel registry and grab a master key," she said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, did you really think that you could keep out someone who already controlled the hotel's owner?"

"Ah," he said, before shaking himself. "Well, you're not taking me without a fight. Get her, Fang!" he ordered, causing the crocodile to leap at Party Animal. Sighing, she merely sidestepped the angry reptile and "lightly" whacked it on the snout with her baton, sending it down for the count.

"You know, I wasn't expecting to add 'animal cruelty' to my rap sheet, but if that's what it takes…" she said, before walking over to the now-terrified Jagged Stone and brandishing her glowstick in his face. "Get ready to headline the biggest party that Paris has ever seen!"

As she spun the glowstick, and Jagged Stone's mind descended into darkness, his last conscious thought was, _'It figures a villain would get me my biggest gig...'_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **That night…**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Ah, now this is the life," Party Animal said, stretching out her legs and giving a contented sigh. The limo ride was smooth this time, the stereo pumping out a classic love ballad from a few years ago. "Don't you agree, Mr. Stone?"

Jagged Stone gave no reply, simply bobbing his head in tune. However, his relaxed posture gave the impression that he was enjoying the ride.

"My thoughts exactly," Party Animal responded, smiling. She then turned her head to look at the limo's other occupants. "Why can't you be more like him?"

Mr. and Mrs. Sauvage were silent. While they were also bobbing their heads like Jagged Stone, their postures were much more formal.

Party Animal shook her head. She could put people in a limo and give them a police escort, but she couldn't make them enjoy it. Brainwashed slaves could be such downers, especially her parents, but she wouldn't let it spoil her good mood. The plan was almost completely set, with only a few tiny pieces left.

The limo skidded to a halt before the Bataclan. It was a five-story building in the Chinoiserie style, taken from Chinese architecture, with huge windows, a colorful exterior, and smaller upper stories. It had been hosting rock concerts since the 70's, and was one of the most prestigious art venues in Paris.

"Such a pretty place for Ladybug and Cat Noir to meet their end," Party Animal said, grinning.

With some prompting, Cecil exited the limo and came over to open her door. She stepped out, then let Jagged Stone and the Sauvages leave, too. The police followed suit, having followed the limo in a convoy, and Party Animal led their way to the back door, where a bouncer blocked the way.

"I'm with the talent," the villain snickered, twirling her glowsticks. The bouncer, his eyes growing dim, nodded and opened the door for her. "Thanks, no-neck. Stick around here and keep the riff-raff out while we do our sound check."

Whistling a tune, Party Animal escorted her slaves inside, hypnotizing anybody who crossed her path, and seeking out the ones who didn't. "Get some rest, Mr. Stone," she chuckled, pointing him to his dressing room. "Your staff will set the stage. Police," she ordered, turning to the cops, "you know what to do. Spread out. And Mom and Dad," she finished, "I have special seats for you backstage."

The cops nodded and danced their way out into the main venue, save for Roger, who stayed behind with her and Cecil. At the same time, Mr. and Mrs. Sauvage danced backstage, disappearing from view quickly.

"Okay," she said, staring at the nearest clock, which read seven. "The show begins at eight sharp, so I should have an hour until this place is packed. Cecil, you know where to go. Roger, you stick with me in case those two nuisances show up unfashionably early. And by tomorrow night, Paris will be one big neverending party!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Forty-five minutes later...**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Adrien's research was interrupted by a knock at the door. He scrambled to close the window on his screen as his father walked in.

"Hey, Dad. What's going on?" he asked, a neutral expression on his face.

"I wanted to inform you that I have decided against you attending the concert. Jagged Stone has been completely unresponsive all day, and I simply cannot in good conscience allow you to go if I can't ensure that you will be properly looked after," Mr. Agreste said, prompting a slight sigh from Adrien. He had a feeling it was coming, and he wasn't planning on going as himself, anyway, but it still would have been nice for him to hear his dad say "yes" for once.

"Alright, Dad, I understand," he said, standing up and fumbling around in his pocket. "Here," he continued, handing his father the concert ticket. "I'm going to try to let the others know I'm not coming, but if they show up anyway, would you mind giving them the ticket back? Maybe they can find someone else to take it."

Mr. Agreste nodded, taking the ticket from his son's hand and slipping it into his coat pocket. Without another word, he walked out of the room and closed the door. As the sound of his footsteps receded down the hallway, Plagg emerged from his hiding spot under the couch cushions and flew over to face Adrien.

"Ugh," he complained. "Do you really have to vacuum in there every day? I saved some popcorn from yesterday, and now it's gone!"

Adrien scrunched up his face. "That's disgusting, Plagg! Almost worse than the Camembert. I can't even sneak into the kitchens anymore without the chefs giving me some! They think I love the stuff!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that you can't appreciate good food when you smell it."

"Trust me, smelling it is part of the reason why I don't. Anyway, you think we're good?"

"Yeah, I think so. Old Stick in the Mud thinks you'll be staying in, especially since he knows you wouldn't try to get in without your ticket. We can head out any time."

"Then let's get going. No sense in keeping Ladybug waiting with so much at stake. Plagg, claws out!"

Once again, Plagg flew into Adrien's ring, and Adrien dramatically transformed back into the debonair Cat Noir. With ease born from long practice, Cat Noir opened his window, leapt out, closed and locked it, and then bounded off across the rooftops of Paris, making his way to the Bataclan.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Extra baked goods, check," Marinette said, reading off a checklist. "Earplugs, check. Deep breathing exercises to avoid a panic attack…"

She took a few sharp breaths, which only succeeded in making her feel a little lightheaded. Her parents had already left for Le Grand Paris, likely to meet up with the restaurant staff and prepare for the afterparty.

"Oh boy. How am I going to do this?" she groaned.

"I keep telling you, you can do this, Marinette!" Tikki insisted. "And panicking does nobody any good. If you can fight your own akumatized friends, if you can stand up to Hawk Moth nearly every single day, then you can do this! Now, say the phrase!"

With a deep breath, Marinette stood up straight and brushed the hair away from her ear. "Tikki, spots on!"

Tikki flew into the earrings, and for the third time that day, Marinette became Paris's favorite superhero, Ladybug.

"Alright, let's get going," she said to herself, before leaping up to the roof and swinging her way to the Bataclan. Getting there in only a few minutes, she landed on the roof, where Cat Noir was already waiting.

"Any sign of her?" she asked. Cat Noir pointed to the street, where a limo was parked, as were a half-dozen police cars. People were already pouring in the front doors.

"Looks like she's already here. And since we never heard anything about Party Animal on the news, there's a pretty good chance that she's already gotten her claws in Jagged Stone."

"Wonderful," Ladybug groaned. "Well, if stopping people from going didn't work, we'll just have to take her down before she takes over the crowd. Come on."

She tipped open a window and entered the upper floors of the concert hall, sneaking her way down. Cat Noir stayed right behind her.

"Our first concert together," Cat Noir said with a smirk. "It's all moving so fast, isn't it?"

Ladybug wasn't so focused on her task that she couldn't punch him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Just trying to lighten the mood," he said, rubbing his shoulder.

"If we don't stop Party Animal, Paris may never take anything seriously again!" Ladybug snapped, before sighing. "Sorry, been a stressful day," she said as she and Cat Noir dashed down the stairs five at a time. "Let's just focus. The sooner we beat Party Animal, the sooner we can relax. Now let's find some cover."

Cat Noir nodded, and they found their way to the main concert hall, avoiding the eye of the concert-goers and the awkwardly dancing staff. It was a huge place, capable of fitting about 1,500 people, and split into two levels, with a U-shaped balcony set above the main floor, and a tiny window to a control booth set in the wall behind it. The two were careful to remain unseen as they snuck their way onto the catwalk directly behind the curtains.

"You'd think someone would notice all the dancing going on," Cat Noir said, only for Ladybug to shush him.

"Keep it down! We need to keep the element of surprise. As soon as she shows her face, we attack."

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Back in his tower room, Hawk Moth was bathed in moonlight as he stared out his massive window.

"I made a wise choice with this particular akuma," he bragged to nobody in particular. "She came up with a good plan. By midnight tonight, Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses will be mine!"

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Alya and Nino didn't have the luxury of arriving in style. They took a bus out to the Bataclan, which made it all the more frustrating when they saw Chloé and Sabrina disembarking from a limousine in front of the concert hall.

"What?" Chloé demanded when she saw them staring. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to pick you up? Get real! We may all want to help Ladybug, but that doesn't make us some sort of team!"

"Fine by me! Guess I'll just stand there laughing when Party Animal makes you bust a move in front of the entire crowd!" Alya snapped back. Snarling, the two girls stormed toward each other before Nino and Sabrina got in the way.

"Alya, chill! She's not worth it!" Nino said, holding his girlfriend back. "Besides, if we don't work together and keep an eye out, then we'll all end up shakin' our groove thing out there."

"He's right!" Sabrina said, trying to pull Chloé away. "Remember, our dads are at stake. And the sooner we work together, the sooner we help Ladybug stop Party Animal so we can all go back to normal."

"Grr…" Chloé growled, before angrily tossing her head back. "Fine! We'll work together! But once Party Animal's taken care of, then it's business as usual! So don't go thinking that we're friends or anything!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Alya snarled, before dislodging her arms from Nino's grip. "Now let's get on with this."

With that, the unlikely coalition walked around the Bataclan to the back entrance, stopping short at the sight of the bouncer bobbing his head to an inaudible beat.

"Oh man! She's here already!" Nino said, quickly pulling his headphones over his ears and turning to Alya. "What do you want to do?"

"Um…" Alya muttered, biting her lip. After a few seconds, she sighed. "Well, we already knew this was going to be risky. But we can't just turn back now. We'll just need to be even more careful than we planned. So, any ideas how else we can get in?"

"Oh, just go around him!" Chloé snapped. "He's, like, not even paying attention!"

Nino, looking at the bouncer, had to admit she had a point. "Alright, but I'll go first," he said. Gingerly, he stepped forward, only for the bouncer to shove a hand out to stop him. Nino, startled, stopped short, only to begin fishing around in his pocket. "Uh, I've got a pass," he said, holding out his ticket. The bouncer nodded and lowered his arm. Seeing this, the girls followed suit.

"Quick thinking!" Alya complimented as the quartet walked into the Bataclan. "What gave you the idea?"

Nino, blushing, rubbed the back of his head. "It's not that big a deal. Honestly, it just hit me that aside from the dancing, he was acting pretty normal. I thought it was worth a shot to try giving him the ticket. Lucky it worked, huh?"

"Yeah, lucky," Alya said smiling. "And the headphones?" she continued, pointing out Nino's headwear.

"Well, you said her victims react to music, right? I figured that having something that helps block out sound would be a good form of defense. It's not perfect, though. I can still hear you talking up close, so it'd only really help if she does some kind of mass hypnosis thing."

"Which she totally will," Alya assured. "It'd be too slow to go one person at a time. She'd never pull it off."

"Right," Nino said, nodding. "By the way, I actually brought headphones for all of you, if you want them. I would have given 'em to you before, but I figured we'd have some time to get in position before she actually showed up. Here," he continued, taking off his backpack and quickly removing three pairs of headphones, handing one to each of the girls.

Chloé looked them over, planning to make some snide remark, when she looked up and gasped. Quickly, she grabbed Sabrina and Alya by the arms and shoved them into the nearest open door, which turned out to be a bathroom.

"I just saw her!" she hissed as Nino followed them in.

"Are you sure?" Alya asked.

"Nobody but an akuma would wear an outfit like _that!_ I mean, a leopard-print bodysuit? There aren't enough words to describe how tacky that is! Also, she had a tail."

"I think that'd be the bigger tip-off!" Alya said, groaning. "Did you happen to notice anything else?"

"Well, she was wearing glowsticks around her wrists. Oh, and tons of black jewelry. What is she, goth?"

"Ugh, who cares?" Alya said. "Did you see anything that looked like it might have an akuma? Anything that didn't seem to fit?"

"I only saw her for a second!" Chloé shot back. "Like you can do better?"

"You're lucky I don't plan on offering myself up to be brainwashed, otherwise I'd take you up on that!" Alya shouted, before taking a deep breath. "Look, let's just put on the headphones and get going. If she hasn't come in here, then she obviously hasn't seen us."

"I have an idea," Sabrina offered up. She slipped on her pair of headphones and walked like an Egyptian out of the bathroom, affecting a dazed look.

"I get it!" Nino said. He then proceeded to follow Sabrina out, matching her move for move.

"If you think I'm going to walk out there in some kind of dancing convoy, you have another think coming!" Chloé griped.

"Fine, then stay in here all night. Makes no difference to me," Alya said as she too left the bathroom. After only a few moments, Chloé groaned and followed them out. Reunited, the four proceeded to dance-walk their way down the halls, adjusting their moves whenever they ran into groups of brainwashed workers or assistants as they made their way to the stage. There was an adult couple there, a tall white man and a slightly overweight Punjabi woman, but both of them kept bobbing their heads as they sat in their chairs, seeming totally unaware of their surroundings. The quartet looked at them, but moved on, recognizing that there was nothing they could do. In a few moments, they were in the venue proper, concealed behind the curtains.

Once they were out of sight, the four stopped dancing, Alya breathing a sigh of relief. "That was exhausting. And terrifying," she said.

"I hear that," Nino said, grimacing. "I was freaking out the whole time."

"Any sign of Ladybug or Cat Noir?" Chloé asked.

"Not yet. But if they were here, they'd probably be in hiding already, so let's not get worried yet," Alya replied.

"What about Jagged Stone?" Sabrina asked.

"Haven't seen him either, but he's probably in his dressing room getting ready," Nino said. "That, or hiding somewhere so the villain doesn't get him. I'm sure he's fine, though."

As the four stood chatting, Ladybug and Cat Noir stared down from above.

 _Great,_ Ladybug thought, shaking her head. _They didn't chicken out after all. Now I'm going to have to work extra hard to protect them. At least Adrien couldn't make it. I'd never forgive myself if he got hurt!_

 _It figures,_ Cat Noir thought at the same time. _This is the downside of having strong-minded friends. Well, at least Marinette stayed back. With her parents brainwashed, Party Animal could have a ton of leverage over her. There's no way that would end well._

"Think we can get those kids out of here before the trouble starts?" Ladybug asked, turning to her fellow hero.

"I doubt it," Cat Noir answered. "We'd be spotted for sure. Gotta give 'em props for the headphones, though."

"But they won't do anything. They'll just stand there and let themselves be brainwashed if they don't figure out how she's really doing it. I've got to at least warn them!" Ladybug hissed. Swinging out her magic yo-yo, she hooked it onto a bar on the catwalk and lowered herself to her classmates as they sat down behind the curtain. The audience was heating up. The room was packed almost to the brim.

"Ladybug!" Alya gasped.

"Do you know another hero who comes down on...wait, don't answer that. Point is, you need to get out of here! Party Animal is too dangerous for you to face! You'll just end up hypnotized like everyone else!"

"But we can help you! Besides, we have these headphones on!" Nino said, pointing to his own pair. "If we can't hear the music, she can't brainwash us, right?"

"She might control people with music, but she doesn't hypnotize them with it. She has glowsticks around her wrists that she spins in people's faces. Wearing the headphones will slow your movements down, but it won't protect you."

"Great," moaned Chloé. "Of all the nights to leave my sunglass collection at home."

"Not the time," Alya grumbled, before turning to Ladybug. "Look, is there any way you can think of that we can block the brainwashing? Because I speak for all of us when I say that we're staying here to help you out and stop this villain. You won't be able to convince us otherwise."

"Best advice I can give is to look away," Ladybug told her. "Actually, the best advice I can give is to get out of here, but you're obviously not going to take it."

"Sorry! Headphones!" Alya said, turning away. "Can't hear you!"

Ladybug was about to argue when she heard a familiar voice coming from down the hall. "It's her," she hissed. "Quick, hide!"

As the four students rushed behind various appliances, Ladybug retracted her yo-yo string and swung back up. A few moments later, Party Animal walked out onstage, along with Jagged Stone, Officer Roger, and a quartet of roadies.

"Daddy?" Sabrina gasped, only to be shushed by the others.

"Alright, boys, let's get this party started!" she said, snapping her fingers. As the curtain rose up, she whispered to herself, "Been waiting all day to say that."

"Cliché much?" Alya muttered, only for Nino to elbow her in the side.

The crowd, upwards of 1,500 people, roared at the sight of Jagged Stone. They barely noticed the akumatized villain before she stepped forward. Well, _they_ didn't, but Alya did. The image of a girl in a leopard-print top flashed through her mind. But where had she seen her before? Still pondering, she pulled out her phone and began recording.

Meanwhile, up on the catwalk, Ladybug and Cat Noir tensed. "Should we attack now?" Cat Noir whispered.

"Not yet," Ladybug replied. "We need to wait for her to be distracted. The second she starts hypnotizing the crowd, then we strike."

"Is everybody ready to have a good time tonight?" Party Animal yelled into a headpiece, prompting a roar of approval from the crowd. Thanks to her efforts in keeping the media off her trail, no one in the audience recognized her as a villain. They just thought she was part of the show. "I know I am! You know, I almost didn't make it tonight. But here I am, so let's crank it up to eleven! Will everybody help me welcome Jagged Stone!"

The crowd cheered as the brainwashed rock star swayed forward, striking a pose with his guitar.

"Show him some love, people!" Party Animal continued. "And get ready for the mother of all parties! Are you ready?"

The crowd gave a resounding "YES!"

"Are you sure?"

"YES!"

"Good! Then get a load of _this!_ "

Laughing hysterically, the villain spun her glowsticks, beginning the hypnosis. The crowd's will, already slipping away to mob mentality, began to wane even further. Just as they were nearly bent to Party Animal's will, the villain found herself knocked on her stomach thanks to a boot to the back.

"This party's cancelled!" Ladybug snarled, as Cat Noir leapt down to meet her.

Growling, Party Animal pulled herself to her feet and spun to face the heroes, resting her arms behind her back. "I don't know why I'm even surprised. I should have known you'd be lurking here waiting for me to show up, you little rats."

"Hey! Don't compare us to cat food, alright?" Cat Noir said.

Ladybug, shaking her head, glared at Party Animal. "I know what you're planning, and it won't work. Now that we're here, you'll never be able to hypnotize this entire crowd! Not with us distracting you every chance we get!"

At that, Party Animal just smirked. "Oh, don't worry. I'm going to be completely focused on fighting you two. After all," she said, moving her arms in front of her...revealing the glowsticks clutched in her hands, "I hardly need to brainwash them twice!"

Gasping, Ladybug and Cat Noir directed their attention to the crowd, and had their worst suspicions confirmed. The entire audience was in a frenzy, dancing wildly to inaudible music. Backstage, the quartet of students, who had shut their eyes when Party Animal started her introduction, cautiously opened them and turned their attention back onto the stage.

"How did you do that?" Ladybug asked.

"Um, hello? Did you two not notice I had my hands behind my back for the past minute? I never said I had to be looking at my victims to brainwash them, especially when I planned on taking over the whole crowd anyway. All that talk about keeping me distracted, when you were the ones who needed to keep your eyes on the prize! Now, Jagged Stone," she said, turning to the rock star, "how about some fighting music?"

Jagged Stone nodded and ran his fingers over the guitar strings. A power chord echoed throughout the Bataclan, pumped out by four massive speakers at the edge of the stage. Soon he'd moved into a fast-paced punk rock number, driving the audience wild.

"Don't even think about escaping, either!" Party Animal said, her voice magnified by her headset. "I've got cops stationed around every entrance and exit with orders to shoot at the first sight of you!"

"Pretty sure we can dodge a few bullets!" Cat Noir bragged.

Party Animal gave an evil smirk. "I didn't say they had orders to shoot _you._ "

Cat Noir's face fell. "Wow," he said. "Just...wow. Normally I can crack a joke about anything, but...wow."

"You're sick," Ladybug growled. "You turn an entire theater into your minions, and now you're using them as hostages, too?"

"Minions are multipurpose tools, sweetheart. Besides, you've gotten away from me twice already. I'm not taking any chances. I'll be taking those Miraculouses, even if I have to kill this entire crowd to keep you here," Party Animal said, her voice uncharacteristically grim.

Ladybug and Cat Noir felt a chill run down their spines. They'd never faced this kind of cold determination before, not even from their most difficult prior villains. Still, the thought of what they had to lose got them over it quickly.

"You'll never get them!" Ladybug insisted. "And we're not going to run. We're going to stop you, right here, right now!"

Without another word, Ladybug and Cat Noir leapt into battle. Ladybug swung her yo-yo low, aiming for Party Animal's legs. She dodged it, only to run right into Cat Noir's bo staff. As she flew back, Ladybug delivered a flying kick, and Cat Noir came down with a punch to her jaw. To their surprise, Party Animal giggled as she was thrown back, landing directly in the middle of the crowd. Rather than fall through to the floor, though, she rose back up, supported on a platform formed from the hands of her followers.

"Get back here!" Ladybug yelled, glaring at the supervillain.

"No thanks. I've tried taking you on in hand-to-hand before. Instead, I think I'll let you tire yourself out on opponents you can't fight back against. Minions, destroy Ladybug and Cat Noir!" she screamed, pointing at the heroes in question. Her servants snapped to attention, the roadies and Roger surrounding the heroes onstage as the crowd moved their hands as one, sending their master crowd-surfing around the room.

"Up for a little surfing, Milady?" Cat Noir shouted, glancing at Ladybug.

Ladybug shook her head. "Not a good idea. All those hands would tear us apart. Hate to say it, but we're stuck here for now."

Cat Noir nodded and dodged just as a roadie moved to tackle him. He shuffled his feet, moving until he was standing back-to-back with Ladybug as Party Animal's stage minions converged around them, raising their fists and, in Roger's case, his nightstick.

Roger was the first to move, charging forward at Ladybug, but Cat Noir blocked him with his staff as Ladybug twirled her yo-yo to repel the roadies. Cat Noir swung his staff and knocked Roger back. Sabrina cringed, but said nothing as Cat Noir leapt onto her father's shoulders and used the fronts of his boots to send him careening into a wall, then ran to join Ladybug in fighting off the roadies.

As Ladybug and Cat Noir started to regain the advantage, Party Animal pounced onto the stage, her glowsticks once again transformed into twin batons. She launched herself at Ladybug, and this time the heroes were too preoccupied to stop the assault. She landed a strong hit to Ladybug's ribs, causing her to fall over in pain.

Cat Noir growled and swung his staff at Party Animal, throwing the villain back into the audience. As Ladybug recovered, he leapt after the villain, extending his staff into a long pole to hold himself high above the hypnotized crowd. He held it steady, then twirled down and struck Party Animal with a kick to the stomach, but she merely fell back into the crowd and surfed back up, sending him scurrying away. He retreated to the balcony, retracting his staff as he did, but the crowd above was just as rowdy, reaching out to grab at him. He was barely able to avoid their hands as he ran for it.

Meanwhile, backstage, Alya and the others were watching the fight avidly, albeit more out of fear than excitement, as Ladybug returned to her feet and continued to stave off the roadies. "Marinette wasn't kidding about how tough this villain was," Alya whispered, keeping her phone on the akumatized girl.

"I'm sure Ladybug's just taking it easy on her," Chloé replied hesitantly. From the looks Alya and Nino sent to her, they knew exactly how she really felt.

 _I know I've seen this girl before!_ Alya thought as she turned back to face the fight. _If I could just figure out where…?_

Back on the stage, the roadies had now succeeded in taking Ladybug by the wrists and ankles, and were threatening to tear her apart, but Ladybug just let out a grunt and launched her yo-yo at one of the roadie's shin. As he hopped in pain, she burst free and swung her weapon, knocking all four of them off of their feet.

"This party's getting noise complaints!" she shouted, throwing herself at Jagged Stone. She snatched up his guitar and brought it down against the stage, breaking the instrument in two.

The entire room went quiet. The crowd around Cat Noir calmed down, and he was able to reach the balcony's railing. The four schoolkids smiled at Ladybug's triumph...as did Party Animal.

"You're adorable, Ladybug," she gloated, still atop her party minions. "You really think I wouldn't have a backup plan? Hit it, Cecil!" she said into her headset.

From his vantage point, Cat Noir could see into the tiny window behind the balcony, where the Gorilla was seated in the control booth. His enormous brainwashed bodyguard hit a button on a mixing board, and the music started up again, pumping through the four huge speakers on the stage.

Ladybug ran to the nearest speaker, inspecting it. _No electric cord!_ she panicked. _It must have an internal power supply! And no antenna, either! The whole thing is wireless and cordless!_

"Cat Noir!" she screamed, but her fellow hero didn't turn. "Cat Noir!"

It was no use. The music was too loud. It was completely drowning out her voice. Instead, she launched her yo-yo at him, striking him on the shoulder. He turned and nodded, leaping back down to join her. She pointed at the speaker, and ran at it, shoulder forward. Cat Noir joined her in tackling the device, but it held firm, bolted to the stage. Alya and the others joined them for a third tackle, but even with the four teenagers' added weight, the speaker refused to budge. Cat Noir held up a paw, fingers out and curled, and gestured to the speaker, his message clear: _Should I use Cataclysm?_ Ladybug shook her head, pointing to the other three speakers. She pointed to the tiny window over the balcony, but Cat Noir shook his head and held his finger and thumb close together. Even if he used his Cataclysm to break the Plexiglas, he couldn't squeeze through the puny opening. Ladybug turned to Alya and the others, gesturing at them to go back backstage, but Alya shook her head and kept recording the fight.

Before Ladybug could insist, the sextet heard Party Animal's voice, amplified to audibility by the speakers. "What's this?" she announced. "Looks like I missed a few partygoers. Ah, well. I guess they can join their heroes in their demise! Block the exits and rush the stage!"

The crowd surged forward, grabbing at the stage, hoisting themselves up. Alya and her companions gathered behind Ladybug and Cat Noir, who began whacking the dancing slaves back as hard as they could without hurting them, but the crowd just wouldn't stop. Party Animal, still laughing, crowd-surfed her way back to the stage, coming down with both batons on Cat Noir, who was barely able to block in time, which only opened him up to an attack from a nearby minion. Ladybug knocked away the threat, a blonde teenager in a miniskirt, but more just kept surging up. The two heroes extended the range of their weapons, repelling even more of the party slaves, but nothing could dissuade them from their master's will.

"There's no escape!" Party Animal announced. "Hand over your Miraculouses and I'll consider ending you quickly!"

Ladybug and Cat Noir frantically shook their heads.

"I figured as much. And to be honest, I prefer it this way! I'm about to give myself the greatest birthday present imaginable!"

At her words, a memory flashed through Alya's mind; a girl on a bus, wearing a leopard-skin top. One who expressed annoyance at Ladybug's fight. And Alya especially remembered admiring something on the girl's wrist, something the girl said was a birthday present. She knew where Party Animal kept her akuma! But how to tell Ladybug when the music drowned out everything else?

Meanwhile, the villain jumped back into the fray, leading the hypnotized partiers in the assault, wildly swinging her batons. The crowd, along with the roadies, Roger, and now Jagged Stone wielding his broken guitar (held together by just a couple of strings), closed in from all sides, and the four kids were squeezed between Ladybug and Cat Noir, who kept batting away threats from every angle, leaving less than ten feet of space between them.

While Alya stood her ground and Nino stayed by her side, Chloé began scrambling about toward the exits, Sabrina following her in an effort to keep her safe. Unfortunately they found their way blocked at every turn by Party Animal's minions. Frustrated, Chloé stomped her boot on the stage, and felt the floor move ever so slightly. Puzzled, she knelt down on the stage and examined the floor. Nino, Sabrina, and Alya joined her, and together they made a discovery.

Nino tapped Cat Noir on the shoulder, turning his attention to the others. By pressing her nails into a crack in the floor, Chloé lifted up a section of the stage - a trapdoor. Cat Noir waved them in. Chloé and Nino didn't waste any time, but Alya hesitated, wondering how to give her message to Ladybug. Officer Roger took advantage of her moment of indecision, lunging at her, but Sabrina grabbed him by the back of his belt and Alya dropped down the trapdoor with the others. Without a moment to lose, Cat Noir threw Sabrina down with her, then leapt in himself. Before Ladybug could follow, though, the crowd had come too close, stomping down the trapdoor and swarming the hero from all sides.

"Give it up, Ladybug!" Party Animal sneered. "Once I have your Miraculous, I've already won! Cat Noir's will only be a matter of time!"

Ladybug sneered back, but said nothing, flinging her yo-yo up to catch the railing of the catwalk and pulling herself up.

 _Not much choice now!_ , she thought as she got to her feet. She threw her yo-yo into the air again, and it spun in place. "Lucky Charm!"

A red-and-black-striped object materialized from nothing and dropped into Ladybug's outstretched hands. It was -

 _An archery set?_ , she pondered, staring at the small bow and the suction cup-tipped arrows. _What can I do with this?_

As she was thinking, Party Animal sprang into view, swinging her batons as she landed on the catwalk.

"Even your Lucky Charm won't be enough to stop me!" she snarled. "I've spent two days preparing for this fight! You can't win!"

Ladybug replied by launching her yo-yo at the villain, but Party Animal anticipated it and caught the weapon on her baton, then pulled Ladybug in close to bash her with the other one. Ladybug retaliated with a kick that sent Party Animal flying off the catwalk and back into her zombified mosh pit.

 _I can't beat her at close range!,_ Ladybug thought. _I need room to move around!_

She cast her eye around the room, stopping at the balcony, and then the ceiling. _That's it!,_ she realized, grabbing the archery set. _I hope these suction cups are strong!_

Meanwhile, Party Animal sprung up again, her jumps boosted as the crowd threw her into the air. Ladybug managed to grab an arrow and fire it at the ceiling just in time, then grabbed the other arrows and jumped off the catwalk, avoiding Party Animal's strikes. She threw out her yo-yo and managed to catch it on the arrow she'd just fired, then swung up and threw another one at a different spot on the ceiling. She repeated this until all six of her arrows were used, all in different parts of the ceiling.

"I'm just getting started, Party Animal!" she cried at the top of her voice. What nobody could hear over the music, though, was the beep from Ladybug's earrings as the first spot disappeared.

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"Okay," Cat Noir announced as the group made its way through the dark tunnel. According to his night vision, the door was only a hundred feet away, and the kids had removed their headphones during the escape. "We're almost out. Now's the time for you four to get to safety!"

"As if!" Alya shot back. "I just realized where I've seen this villain before! I've got to tell Ladybug where she keeps her akuma!"

"Look, even if I was about to let you back up there, you know she won't be able to hear anything! How do you expect to tell her _and_ stay out of danger at the same time?" Cat Noir asked, frowning, although none of the kids could see it in the dark corridor.

"What is this place, anyway?" Sabrina asked.

"A lot of concert halls have trapdoors on stages so people can make dramatic entrances," Nino told her. "They're pretty useful in magic shows, too. It should let out somewhere near the back."

Cat Noir reached the door first and flung it open, only to be greeted by the face of a police officer, along with his gun. Surprisingly, Sabrina was the fastest to react, pulling out a small canister and spraying it in the cop's face. The policeman cried out and rubbed his stinging eyes as Sabrina grabbed his gun.

"Good thing I grabbed Daddy's mace earlier!" she said with a smile.

"Is he hurt?" Nino asked, staring at the cop, who had dropped to his knees.

"Not badly."

"Good," Cat Noir said. "Now get out of here. The cops were ordered to react to me, not you."

"But-" Alya said, before Nino grabbed her shoulder, causing her to turn to him.

"Alya, we've done a lot. We really need to get out of here, before Party Animal decides she wants us as hostages after all."

"But...ugh, fine," Alya muttered, walking toward the door. Before she walked out, though, she turned to Cat Noir. "But tell Ladybug that the akuma should be in that tortoiseshell bangle on her right wrist. It's the only thing she still has on from when I saw her two nights ago."

"Will do," Cat Noir said, then he turned his eyes to Nino's headphones. "Hey, can I borrow those?"

Nino shrugged. "Sure, bro," he said, handing them over. "Help yourself."

With that, Cat Noir disappeared around the corner, making his way down the hall.

"Gotta stop those cops!" he said, extending his bo staff. As he turned another corner, he clubbed a dancing police officer before the cop could even turn and see him. He was running full speed now, and cast open a door to a staircase, leaping up them five at a time and out into another hallway. Another cop went down before she knew what hit her, and finally Cat Noir approached his target.

"There's the control booth!" he said, reading the sign on the door. "Time to face the music!" He threw open the door and found himself facing the back of the Gorilla's head. "Oh, great…"

The musclebound partier spun himself around and threw a punch at the young hero, who leapt and dodged just in time. Cat Noir countered with a kick to the Gorilla's side, but his ex-bodyguard caught him by the ankle and swung him against the wall. Cat Noir broke his grip by slamming his bo staff into the man's foot, then jumped and shoved the headphones down over the Gorilla's ears. With most of the sound blocked out, the Gorilla mellowed and Cat Noir was able to throw him out into the hall.

"Nice one," came a familiar voice from behind him. It was Alya, still holding her phone in front of her. "But, you know, there _was_ an elevator."

Cat Noir groaned. "I thought I told you to get out of here!"

"Like I'm going to miss prime material for my Ladyblog!" Alya said with a snort. "Besides, like you said, her minions aren't after _me._ "

Cat Noir sighed and shook his head. He took just a second to look through the window and check on the fight. Ladybug was doing okay, using her yo-yo to swing from arrows stuck to the ceiling and fight head-to-head with Party Animal, who was basically using the crowd as a trampoline to boost her jumps. Party Animal still seemed to hold an advantage, though. Ladybug couldn't get down, and she was using her only weapon to stay airborne. She was relying on punches and kicks, while the villain still had weapons.

Not wasting any time, Cat Noir ran to the mixing board and stared down at all the knobs and buttons. He had no idea how to turn it off, so he went with Plan B. He concentrated and an orb of dark energy formed around his right paw, then absorbed into it.

"Cataclysm!"

Cat Noir slammed his hand down on the mixing board, and rust began to spread from the point of contact. It soon covered the whole machine, which crumbled before Cat Noir's eyes.

The music, once almost deafening, came to a stop.

"You know," Alya smirked. "You could've just unplugged it."

"Can't have anybody turning it back on," Cat Noir said, his eyes still on Ladybug. He gave her a thumbs-up and ran out. "After all, I'm going back in. There's a microphone here, so give Ladybug your message. And please, stay put!"

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"Swinging around won't help you!" Party Animal sneered as she struck Ladybug with another baton to the ribcage. "There's no escape! All you've done is give me my very own Ladybug piñata!"

Ladybug didn't answer as she swung back, aiming a kick at Party Animal's face, only for the villain to dodge and strike again.

"Give up! You've got, what, three minutes left? You've given yourself an early curfew, but I can keep partying for hours!"

Ladybug swung over and hooked another arrow, then swung back in for a left hook, which Party Animal countered with a strike to Ladybug's shoulder, sending her careening back, out of control and unable to dodge Party Animal's strike to her jaw.

Just when the fight seemed hopeless, though, Ladybug heard something. The most amazing, miraculous thing she'd heard all day: silence. The music had stopped. Party Animal dropped down and didn't immediately bounce back up, and Ladybug took the split-second opportunity to look into the tiny window over the balcony, where Cat Noir was giving her a thumbs-up. Once he was sure she'd seen him, he dashed off.

Ladybug smiled and glanced down at Party Animal. She was standing on the shoulders of a teenaged girl with hair dyed bright pink. The villain looked absolutely furious, which made Ladybug's smile grow wider.

"Looks like your party's dying down!" Ladybug taunted, swinging down. This time she dodged the batons and swung off. She landed on a pair of hands ten feet from the villain, and, thanks to the partiers' slower reactions, managed to run across the crowd and deliver a kick to the back of Party Animal's head. Party Animal stumbled forward, and Ladybug struck again, this time with her yo-yo at the base of the villain's spine. When that was done, Ladybug grabbed her by the tail, swung her over her head, and tossed her onto the stage.

"Ladybug!" Alya's voice rang out. "The akuma's in her bangle! The tortoiseshell one on her right wrist!"

Party Animal scrambled to her feet just as Ladybug scanned her. Her eyes went right to the bangle. Come to think of it, it was the only accessory on her without a black gem. It really did stand out!

Party Animal, now visibly worried, pulled her most surprising move yet: she started singing. It was a hit song from a famous American pop singer, instantly recognizable. The microphone carried her voice around the room, and Ladybug braced herself for...well, nothing, as it turned out. Party Animal had a nice voice, but her slaves didn't seem to recognize it as music without instruments behind it. Nonetheless, one strike to the villain's face destroyed her headset.

Now terrified, the villain made a break for the nearest exit, but Hawk Moth had other plans.

 _Party Animal!,_ he screamed into her mind. _You promised me the Miraculouses by midnight tonight! You are not running away again!_

"This isn't running!" Party Animal snapped. "It's a strategic retreat!"

 _And_ this _is incentive!_

At his words, Party Animal dropped to her knees, a searing pain running through every nerve in her body. It was as if she were being attacked from within, far worse than anything that Ladybug could do. The torture lasted only a second, but the echo of the pain left her writhing on the ground.

"Alright!" Party Animal relented, screaming in agony. "I won't leave this time!"

 _Good! Remember, you haven't lost yet! You still have hostages, and Ladybug will revert in less than three minutes!_

"Right, right," she said to herself, straightening up. The pain was fading, but the memory was fresh. "I can still do this. I can still make them pay for everything they've done! Block the exits!" she added, shouting to the crowd. Even without her headset, her voice carried around the room.

A large number of people shifted, barring the doors with their bodies, even the stage's trapdoor. It didn't matter to Ladybug. She wasn't running anywhere.

Skipping across the heads of concert-goers, Ladybug moved in on the villain, first firing the yo-yo to stun her, then jumping for a flying kick. Party Animal sprung aside, dodging it, then smacked her in the back with a baton. Ladybug went into a midair somersault and used the yo-yo again, this time catching Party Animal's leg and pulling her off-balance. As she came down, Ladybug did a one-handed round-off on a guy's head and landed on a woman's shoulders, smiling.

"I'm starting to like my odds here!" the superhero laughed.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Cat Noir arrived at the nearest door to the main hall, one leading into the balcony, in just a few moments, but it refused to open at his touch. There was something heavy blocking the door, holding it back. Even his enhanced strength wasn't enough to budge it much.

"Hang on, Milady!" he panted, trying to pry open the door with his staff. "I'll be in as soon as paw-sible!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

As it turned out, Ladybug wasn't in much need of help. She had learned by now that if she kept moving, the crowd would never catch her, even if she was literally right on top of them. She bounced across the audience as Party Animal ran at her, batons out.

"I _will_ have my party, Ladybug!" the villain promised. "And my revenge!"

"What did I even do?" Ladybug asked, leaning back to dodge strikes from Party Animal's batons, then sweeping her leg.

"Of course you wouldn't know!" Party Animal snapped. She rolled aside to dodge Ladybug's yo-yo, then launched herself back at the hero, only to be repelled when Ladybug spun her weapon for a makeshift shield. "It was just another night to you! You just _had_ to fight that villain in the middle of the road, didn't you?" Party Animal took another swipe, but Ladybug jumped and dodged, only to catch a blow from the other nightstick. "You blocked my bus, and I missed curfew!" Now that she had Ladybug, she continued beating on her, delivering strikes anywhere that she could. "My parents grounded me! On! My! Birthday!" Each word was punctuated by another strike.

With great effort, Ladybug managed to use the last blow to her advantage, sailing over to the stage and casting her yo-yo, grabbing one of the batons. She flicked her wrist and Party Animal screamed, dropping the weapon. Ladybug didn't stop, though. She reeled in the villain, dodging a blow from the remaining baton, and sending her into the air with a powerful uppercut as another spot disappeared from her earrings.

"I'm sorry for what happened!" Ladybug called as the villain landed across the room. "I made a mistake! But that doesn't mean you can hold the city hostage! A hero's duty, above all else, is to protect innocents, and I will always be there to do it!"

Ladybug jumped out to the villain, spinning her yo-yo as a shield, but the villain caught her by surprise, shrinking her remaining baton back into glowstick form. She tried to hypnotize her before she hit, but Ladybug's reflexes were too good. She closed her eyes and stopped spinning her yo-yo, then grabbed the glowstick and threw it away. Then, once it was safe, she seized Party Animal by her hair, then yanked her back. Dropping her yo-yo, she grabbed the villain's tail and tied it and the hair in a knot. "Now, for that akuma…"

Party Animal was far from finished, though. She may have been bare-handed, but she wasn't without weapons. She unsheathed her claws and slashed through her hair, freeing her from the hold and once again pouncing on Ladybug. She raked her claws, truly living up to her name as she wildly slashed at the superhero, but Ladybug once again spun her yo-yo and repelled her, then kicked her across the stage. Party Animal skidded to a stop, but she turned and smiled, leaping onto the nearest person - Jagged Stone himself.

"Hand over the Miraculous, Ladyblech," the villain snarled, holding her claws to his throat. "Or Jagged Stone's last album really will be his _last_ album!"

Cat Noir's bo staff came sailing down just in time. It hit Party Animal between the eyes and stunned her. Her hands flew to her face in surprise, where her claws nearly took out her eyes.

"Finish her off, Ladybug!" he called out as he leapt onto the first floor. Thinking quickly, Ladybug cast her yo-yo upward and seized the small black-spotted bow she'd left behind. She grabbed it in her hands and sprung forward, punching Party Animal off of Jagged Stone's back. For her final move, she slammed the small bow over Party Animal's arms. It only fit up to the elbows, but it was strong enough to bind them tightly together.

Ladybug's earrings beeped, and they went down to their last dot.

"No!" Party Animal spat, along with a variety of colorful curses. "My plan was perfect!"

Ladybug shrugged and snatched the bangle from the villain's wrist. "It's your party," she said, throwing the accessory onto the stage. "You can cry if you want to."

Ladybug brought her foot down on the bangle, smashing it. The akuma within fluttered out, a black butterfly seemingly unaware of all the terror it had caused.

"No more evildoing for you, little akuma," she said, tossing out her yo-yo. It opened like a beetle shell and captured the butterfly within. "Time to de-evilize!"

The superhero brought the yo-yo around in a classic around-the-world trick, then pulled it in close. She tapped her weapon and it opened up, releasing the butterfly, now white as newly-fallen snow. "Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Feeling relieved for the first time all day, she grabbed the bow from around Party Animal, who had gone speechless. "Now to clean up your mess." With a chuckle, she threw the bow into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

With a bright flash, the bow dissipated into a swarm of ladybugs, starting small but growing quickly as the arrows dissolved into their own swarms. Once the swarm was large enough, it proceeded to fly around the theater, passing through every person on its way. When a person came in contact with the swarm, they lost the dazed look in their eyes, the brainwashing undone.

Once the entire theater was covered, the swarm flew out the door and proceeded to fly all over Paris, undoing Party Animal's damage wherever it went. Outside, Nino, Chloé and Sabrina all cheered as they saw the ladybugs flying, knowing that Ladybug had won. In a few moments, all of Party Animal's victims from all over the city had been restored to their senses, and all of the stolen and damaged property was restored to its proper state and location. The Boucheron's glass case and security bars were mended, as well as the window in the bakery's kitchen and the mixing board in the Bataclan's control booth.

Meanwhile, at Le Grand Paris, Mayor Boucheron, Marlena Cesare, the Dupain-Chengs, and the entire hotel staff all snapped to awareness, looking around at their surroundings confusedly. Soon enough, the colossal spread that Party Animal had had them set out was the only physical sign of her existence.

Finally, the swarm returned to the Bataclan and converged over the shattered bangle, restoring it to normal. As the ladybugs disappeared, black energy covered Party Animal, vanishing quickly to reveal the confused form of Nicolle Sauvage.

Cat Noir arrived on stage to join Ladybug, who turned to him with a satisfied look on her face. "Pound it!" she said as the two bumped fists. As soon as that was done, though, she leapt into the trapdoor, using her yo-yo to pull it closed. She wanted to stay, both to banter a bit with Cat Noir and to comfort the victim, but with one dot left, she couldn't afford to stick around. Hopefully Cat Noir had enough time left to say something helpful before he headed out.

Back up top, Cat Noir chuckled as he bent over and grabbed the bangle. "Ah, if only she could have stuck around. This is the perfect atmosphere for a late-night date," he mused. He looked up, and saw Alya shrugging behind the glass window of the control booth before she turned and left the booth, heading out to join the other three students. Smiling, Cat Noir walked over and helped Nicolle to her feet. "I think this belongs to you," he said, handing her the piece of jewelry.

"Thanks…" she said, sliding the bangle onto her wrist. "So...is it normal to have a complete blank about everything that happened since...whenever I was villainized or whatever?"

"Yeah, that's normal. Honestly, it's probably for the best," Cat Noir said. "After all, just because your body was the one doing the hard work, Hawk Moth's the real one to blame. He cranks up anger and frustration a hundred times higher than normal. Don't beat yourself up over it," he continued, looking at Nicolle with a smile. "Everything's all good now."

Nicolle chuckled a bit. "Nice to know you guys are forgiving," she said, before looking around, finally realizing where she was. "Wait, is this the Jagged Stone concert? I was out for two days?" she gasped.

"Nicolle?" came a voice from backstage. Turning, Nicolle's mouth gaped even further as she saw her parents walk out from behind the curtain, moving gingerly on sore feet.

"Mom? Dad?" she said. Her parents looked at her and, heedless of the pain, ran toward her, wrapping her in a hug. Nicolle started to cry. "I'm sorry. Whatever I did while I was like that, I'm so sorry," she said, sobbing into her parent's shoulders. While she was able to keep the emotions at bay while she was talking to Cat Noir, seeing her parents had undone all of her control.

"We know, Nicolle," her father said, squeezing her tight. "We're just glad that everything worked out okay."

"Thank you, Cat Noir," Mrs. Sauvage said. "And would you give Ladybug our thanks, too?"

Cat Noir's ring let out a beep, and he threw open the trapdoor. "Yeah, I'll get right on that," he said, leaping in. "Hope you have a _purr_ -fect rest of your night!" he said, before slamming the trapdoor shut.

"So," Jagged Stone said, sauntering up to the Sauvage family. His guitar was back in one piece, and he was ready to rock. "Will you folks be sticking around for the show?"

Nichole reached into her purse, which had reappeared following the Miraculous Ladybug event. She pulled out three scraps of paper, then took a look at her parents' faces, another at the audience still rubbing their feet from whatever she had forced them to do, and sighed. She handed the tickets to her parents. "Here," she said. "You can hold on to these. Tomorrow, I'll call up the girls and apologize for making them miss the concert. But tonight, let's just head home. Honestly, I think I've had enough fun for a while."

Jagged Stone nodded. "I can hear that. But I don't want you to leave empty-handed," he said, He took one of the tickets from Mrs. Sauvage, pulled a pen out of his pocket, and signed an autograph onto it with a flourish. "Here you are, love. A little something to remember that all's well that ends well. And next time I'm playing in Paris, I expect to see you front and center, alright? Don't let a crazy supervillain ruin a good time for you," he said, handing Nicolle the ticket. "You folks can exit out the back," he finished, pointing them backstage as he turned to the audience. "Now, who's ready to rock?"

As Jagged Stone began to play, the Sauvages walked off stage, their arms wrapped around each other. Mr. and Mrs. Sauvage had warm smiles on their face, as did Nicolle, who clutched her signed ticket tightly in her hand.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Back in his lair, Hawk Moth growled, staring out his massive circular window. "You may be victorious tonight, Ladybug and Cat Noir," he said as the window began to close, "but when I get your Miraculouses, I'll be the one celebrating!" As he ranted, the window finally shut, bathing the room in impenetrable shadows.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Cat Noir hadn't transformed back when he landed in the tunnel, but when his night vision showed him a shape in the darkness, he deliberately looked away to protect Ladybug's privacy. He had vowed ages ago that he only wanted to know if she herself told him. Still, it was surprising that she'd stuck around.

"Don't tell me you waited up for me, Milady," he joked. His teeth were so white that Marinette could almost see them shining, even when he transformed back a moment later. _Good thing Ladybug can't see me like this,_ Adrien thought, as the vague blur in the corner of his eye that might have been Ladybug vanished into the blackness of his normal vision. _A super girl like her would never go for a regular guy like me._

Marinette shrugged. "So what if I did?" she said, summoning up her Ladybug persona. Tikki was currently resting in her handbag, chowing down on one of the cookies Marinette had brought. It would be at least a few minutes before they were ready to transform again. _Thank goodness Cat Noir knows his boundaries_ , she thought. _I don't know what I'd do if he found out who I really am_.

"Well then, I just might have to ask you for a dance," he said, extending a hand.

Marinette hesitated. _I really oughta be getting back_ , she thought. _I really don't want my parents coming home to an empty bakery after everything they've been through_. Still, it wasn't like she could leave as long as people were there who might connect the dots (or spots, as it were). And even if she didn't love him the same way she loved Adrien, Cat Noir was the best partner she could have hoped for. Without him, she would have been defeated tonight, no doubt about it. And he deserved to know just how much she meant to her, even if it wasn't in the way that he hoped it was.

"In that case," she said, reaching out to where she assumed his hand was and grabbing it, "I just might take you up on that. But just one song."

Adrien grinned his signature Cat Noir grin, and as Jagged Stone started up a power ballad, the two danced side-by-side in the darkened corridor.

"You think they'll ever figure it out?" Plagg whispered in Tikki's ear, the two Kwamis having flown to each other as the two were caught up in dancing.

"I know they will," Tikki giggled back. "They just need to let go a little bit, and start looking right in front of them for what they want."

And as the song concluded, the two heroes of Paris shared a moment in the darkness, feeling as wild and free unmasked, but hidden, as they ever had in the light.


End file.
